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Pumpkin porridge. Tasty, simple, healthy!

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Diets and healthy eating 16.11.2017

Dear readers, today on the blog I would like to talk about pumpkin porridge. Due to seasonality, it is often forgotten by us and drops out of our diet. Meanwhile, it is healthy, tasty, easy to cook. For many, the pumpkin is preserved until winter. And if you don't have your own pumpkin, you can always buy it at the market or in the store. Let's talk today about the benefits of pumpkin porridge for our health and how you can cook it tasty and varied at home. I'd like you to include it in your diet more often.

Many housewives love pumpkin. What is not made of it: pies, cheesecakes, juices, soups, pancakes. But porridge is also wonderful and tasty. They can be prepared just from pumpkin, or you can add dried fruits, milk and cereals. It is no coincidence that the pumpkin is called the real queen of autumn.

The benefits of pumpkin porridge

Do you know why the pumpkin is so sunny and bright? The reason for this is carotene. Once in the body, this substance turns into vitamin A, which protects our vision, preserves youth, prevents aging of cells, and helps their growth and development. Carotene is very beneficial for children. In addition, pumpkin contains a lot of potassium and, B vitamins, fiber.

Pumpkin cereals are renowned for their cleansing properties. They have a beneficial effect on bowel function. By adding various cereals to the pumpkin, you can add additional beneficial properties to the porridge. Oatmeal enhances the cleansing effect, and rice - antitoxic. Millet enriches porridge with B vitamins that it contains. And they, in turn, are good for the blood, help the whole body to function.

It's up to you to cook it in water or milk. Now there is a lot of controversy about milk. Porridge on the water, but if you add dried fruits, nuts to it, it turns into a healing delicacy. Nuts are rich in essential fats, and dried fruits are rich not only in vitamins, but also in fiber. Raisins, for example, are good for the heart.

Cooking nuances

To make the porridge especially tasty, you need to know how to properly cook a pumpkin. There are recipes where the pulp is cooked together with cereals, and there are options when it is cooked separately and mixed with cereals at the final stage of cooking.

You need to properly cleanse the fruit. The seed part must be removed completely. We cut it off and leave only the pulp. Don't throw away your seeds. They can be dried and added to porridge too.

The pumpkin is boiled until soft. It is not worth digesting, because it will lose its taste and benefits. The optimal cooking time is 15-20 minutes.

There are a lot of options for cooking pumpkin, for example, you can bake it for porridge in the oven. And what about Armenian ghapama - rice porridge with dried fruits and pumpkin pulp, baked right in the pumpkin!

When I cook pumpkin porridge, I often improvise with additives. Try it too! From spices to any of the following dishes, you can add cinnamon, ginger, star anise. And from dried fruits - dried apricots, raisins, prunes. And the more dried fruits, the tastier the finished delicacy will be. You can also safely add candied fruits or zest, walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds to porridge.

Well, now we know how interesting pumpkin is for its beneficial properties and how varied the dishes with it can be. Let's pop into the kitchen and cook something delicious for the whole family. How to cook delicious pumpkin porridge? These are the recipes I want to offer you.

The classic recipe for pumpkin porridge with milk

There is nothing complicated in this pumpkin porridge recipe, a minimum of ingredients and a lot of benefits. A pumpkin cooked this way looks more like a puree and is suitable for toddlers. Due to the fact that such porridge often turns out to be quite liquid, some housewives add various cereals to it. We will talk about such recipes below, and now we will try to prepare this delicate delicacy.

Ingredients:

  • pumpkin - 400 g;
  • milk - 1 tbsp.;
  • salt - 1/3 tsp;
  • sugar - 1 tsp

Peel the pumpkin and cut into small pieces for easy boiling.

Heat milk on the stove, dip the pumpkin in it. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Care must be taken to ensure that the milk does not run away, so try not to leave the kitchen for a long time. At this stage, you can add salt and sugar.

After the pumpkin is soft, remove from heat and grind with a blender.

Our classic pumpkin porridge is tender and tasty.

Recipe for making pumpkin porridge with millet on water

This is a simple dietary recipe. Of course, many people love pumpkin porridge with millet in milk, and you can cook it simply by adding milk to our ingredients. But we will consider recipes not only for delicious and hearty cereals, but also dishes for those who are watching their figure. As you know, porridge with milk is more high-calorie than with water.

Ingredients:

  • pumpkin - 300 g;
  • millet - 100 g;
  • water - 2 tbsp.;
  • salt and sugar to taste.

Cut the prepared pumpkin into small pieces, rinse the millet until clear water. Pour the water over the ingredients and cook over low heat, covered, until there is no water in the porridge. This will take approximately 15-20 minutes.

Salt and sugar can be added immediately, before cooking, or after everything is ready. Those on a diet can use honey or stevia instead of sugar.

By the way, you can cook pumpkin porridge with millet in a multicooker and thus save time.

Pumpkin porridge with rice and raisins in milk

I think you will agree that rice is the most delicious milk porridge. So why not combine all the most delicious and healthy in pumpkin-rice porridge? To everything else, you can add nuts and raisins to it. Here is a recipe for pumpkin porridge with rice and raisins in milk.

Ingredients:

  • pumpkin - 400 g;
  • rice groats - 100 g;
  • milk - 1 tbsp.;
  • raisins - 60-80 g;
  • walnuts - 40 g;
  • sugar - 4 tsp

Combine washed raisins, chopped pumpkin flesh and milk in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, covered with a half open lid, for 15 minutes.

Rinse the rice well, cook it separately from the other ingredients until it is almost cooked. You can pour a lot of water into it, and then drain it. After cooking, the rice should be rinsed with clean hot water to keep it soft and crumbly.

Combine the ingredients, mix well and leave on low heat, covered for another 3-5 minutes. After you turn off the stove, do not open the lid, but leave the pan for 15-20 minutes so that the porridge "comes up".

There is another option for cooking this type of pumpkin porridge. In this case, raisins should be cooked not with pumpkin, but with rice. At the same time, pumpkin with milk will need to be mashed and only then combined with cereals. It turns out a very beautiful bright porridge.

Remember to chop the walnuts and sprinkle them over the dish when serving.

You will find another unusual recipe for rice porridge with pumpkin and cinnamon in this video.

Pumpkin-corn porridge in a slow cooker

The multicooker is good not only because it is easy to use, but also because food is not overcooked in it, but steamed. If you do not overdo the dishes, then they retain many useful substances.

Among the ingredients in this dish is honey. And, as we all know, so that it does not lose its healing properties, it must not be heated above 60˚С. Therefore, we do not put honey in the multicooker, but add it to the plate to the porridge, when we serve it to the table, like butter.

Ingredients:

  • pumpkin - 400 g;
  • corn grits - 120 g;
  • raisins - 60 g;
  • milk - 1 tbsp.;
  • water - 1 tbsp.;
  • honey to taste;
  • salt to taste.

Here is a recipe for cooking pumpkin-corn porridge in a slow cooker.

Rinse the raisins and corn grits well, peel the pumpkin and cut into small pieces.

Put all this in the multicooker bowl.

Fill the food with water and milk.

You need to cook porridge in the appropriate mode. If you do not have a "milk porridge" regimen, then any similar will do.

Pumpkin porridge with semolina is almost like a dessert

This pumpkin porridge with milk looks more like a dessert. Children will simply be delighted with her, and adults will really like her. You can add vanilla to the porridge to add a particularly bright aroma.

Ingredients:

  • pumpkin - 300 g;
  • semolina - 3 tbsp. l .;
  • milk - 200 ml;
  • salt and sugar to taste.

Prepare the pumpkin, boil the milk, dip the bright pieces into it and cook until tender.

After the pumpkin is boiled in milk, it must be mashed with a blender, and then put back on the fire and stir frequently.

When the puree begins to boil, pour semolina into it in a thin stream, without ceasing to interfere. Delicious porridge will be ready in 5-7 minutes.