The latest post in the Kürbisfest2024! series.
After my beautiful Lakotas went soft and had to be pureed and frozen, I decided it was time to make the Ufos. I buy them every year because I like the name, which they earned because they are shaped like classic 1950s flying saucers. There’s a French name you can use if you have no sense of humor, and New Englanders call them “patty pans”, which is so ridiculously twee I feel ill just typing it out. These are Ufos.
As usual, I began with the glamour shots. The colors and patterns fascinate me. Then I cut them open and hollowed them out, as one would for a jack-o’lantern.
These two were full of seeds, which I kept for roasting later.
Something different this year, since last year the filling dried out before the flesh of the pumpkin was cooked: I pre-roasted them for about forty minutes with an extra bowl of water. I got this tip from an American living in France, who maintains to this day an interesting blog about life abroad. He also calls this shape “daisies”, which I accept because look at them:
While the Ufos baked, I prepared the filling of beef and onion, with the pumpkin flesh that was removed before roasting. It doesn’t really add much except some bulk, but there wasn’t enough to save for a second dish, and I hate wasting it.
“So, what makes this a Taco Ufo, Radish?” Glad you asked. Homemade taco seasoning mix and black olives.
Since the pumpkins were pre-roasted, I was able to fill and top them with cheddar cheese, and back into the oven just long enough for the cheese to get bubbly and yummy.
These were big enough that half of one made a meal for me; Mr Radish had some bread and butter on the side. Cornbread would have been a better grain side dish. We also had sour cream on the table, but neither of us used it. The flesh of the pumpkin was juicy enough.
As fun as these are to look at and play with, they are–I will be honest–a pain in the butt to eat. Bits have to be scraped out of the shell, like a lobster dinner, and there is a risk of having only veg left on your plate if you tuck into the filling first. Mr Radish would have preferred I mix the meat and chopped pumpkin together with noodles into a casserole. But, “once a year, it’s OK”, so I can continue buying Ufos every year for my Kürbisfest. 🙂
