A man has learned about the benefits of pumpkin a long time ago. Vegetable, unpretentious and perfectly stored, used by the Aztecs as food. The description of their culinary "passions" was made in the middle of the XVI century by the Spanish navigator Bernardino de Sahagun. According to him, the Indians ate not only the fruits themselves, but also the flowers that they boiled, and the seeds.
Modern nutritionists agree with the Aztecs: pumpkin is a healthy product. Moreover, its use is recommended in baby food and diet. The pulp of a vegetable is well absorbed by the body, but only if it has been subjected to heat treatment. Therefore, it is customary to cook porridge from pumpkin, it can be baked, stewed. Fresh, the product is more aggressive for the intestines, but effectively cleans it of toxins.
The subtleties of cooking
Pumpkin porridge in a slow cooker will turn out to be perfectly delicious, if you follow these rules.
- Use a well ripened vegetable. Its flesh is sweet in taste, and boils much faster than an unripe fruit. This can be distinguished by a completely dry stalk. If you buy a pumpkin by a slice, try its seed. A ripe fruit has sweet, crunchy, full seeds. The dried up seed will say that the fruit was cut long ago and managed to lose a lot of moisture, and with it also useful properties.
- Grind the pumpkin as needed. The speed of preparation of the dish and its consistency depend on the size of the slices of the vegetable. So for baby food, it is customary to rub it on a fine grater. For older children, you can finely chop the fruit into pieces or grate it coarsely. For adults, a large cut is enough. Then the pieces will well retain their shape in the dish and pronounced taste.
- Choose your preferred grits. Theoretically, any porridge can be combined with pumpkin. However, the classic dish is considered a duet of vegetables with millet groats. So they cooked it in Russia, languished in the oven for a long time, until the pumpkin pulp was almost completely dissolved, and the cereal became lush, incredibly tender. Rice and corn grits also go well with the product. However, they are absorbed by the body in different ways, which is important to consider when preparing meals for children. Prefer millet porridge with pumpkin in a slow cooker if you are preparing a meal for kids. Older children can be offered rice, which has an enveloping and sorbent effect. On the adult table, corn porridge will be appropriate - this cereal is poorly absorbed by the body, but it perfectly cleanses the intestines.
- Bring the vegetable to readiness before laying the cereal. Pumpkin is cooked longer than millet and rice. If you want a uniform structure of the dish, put it out for at least 30 minutes until soft. Check readiness is simple: click on it with a spoon. If the vegetable is easily kneading, then it’s ready.
- Stew the pumpkin in water, and boil the cereal in milk. If there is a lot of water left after cooking the vegetable, you can simply drain it. But in this case, the pumpkin flavor will not be too pronounced.
Classic recipe
How to cook pumpkin porridge tasty? Consider a classic recipe for pumpkin porridge in a slow cooker with millet groats.We use the same ingredients that the housewives used in old Russian cuisine. And practically do not change the cooking technique. After all, a slow cooker languishes products just like an old Russian stove, only much faster.
You will need:
- pumpkin pulp - 700 g;
- milk - 3 multi-cups;
- millet groats - 100 g;
- butter - 30 g;
- honey - 2 tbsp. spoons.
Cooking
- Grind the pulp of a pumpkin in a meat grinder or on a grater, depending on the desired consistency of the dish.
- Place in a bowl, season with butter. Set the “Baking” mode for 10 minutes.
- Add honey, cereal. Pour in milk, set the mode to "Porridge" for 45 minutes.
- Check the readiness: if the consistency turns out to be liquid, leave the mass on heating for 15 minutes.
When serving, you can decorate porridge in plates with fresh berries. Raspberries and currants go well with it.
Original recipes
Try making rice porridge with pumpkin in a slow cooker or a dish with corn grits. The first is suitable for diet and baby food. It is quickly absorbed, has a mild cleansing effect for the intestines. Therefore, such a porridge is recommended for people with a violation of the digestive tract. The second will help diversify the daily, healthy and tasty menu.
With rice
To make porridge we use round polished rice. It boils better than other rice cereals, after cooking in a slow cooker from whole kernels it turns into air mousse.
You will need:
- rice groats - 1 multi-glass;
- pumpkin pulp - 700 g;
- milk - 300 ml;
- butter - 30 g;
- honey - 1 tbsp. spoon.
Cooking
- Peel and slice the pumpkin.
- Put in a bowl, pour water. She should only slightly cover the vegetable. Set the Extinguishing mode to 30 minutes.
- Put the washed rice, pour in the milk. Set the mode to "Porridge" for 40 minutes.
- Add butter, leave to warm for 10 minutes.
- Arrange in plates, pour with melted honey.
Go well with these products cinnamon, vanilla. You can add washed raisins when laying cereals. So the dish will turn out sweeter.
With corn
The most original is considered corn milk porridge with pumpkin in a slow cooker. The dish gets a rich yellow color, an unusual consistency. We will prepare it for an adult table, so we will not stew the vegetable until soft. In a dish, he will retain the shape of the pieces and the maximum benefit.
You will need:
- pumpkin pulp - 300 g;
- corn grits - 1 multi-glass;
- milk - 3 multi-cups;
- butter - 30 g;
- sugar - 1 tbsp. spoon;
- salt.
Cooking
- Cut the vegetable into medium sized slices.
- Pour into the thick groats, add milk, sugar, salt.
- Lay out the pumpkin.
- Set the mode to "Porridge" for 40 minutes.
- Add butter, leave to warm for 10 minutes.
The beauty of the recipe is that the dish is prepared very quickly. It can also be prepared in delayed start mode. Corn grits do not swell well, so feel free to fill it with milk in the evening, lay all the ingredients. And in the morning you will expect aromatic and healthy porridge!
We hope our recipes for rice, corn, millet porridge with pumpkin in a slow cooker (Polaris, Redmond and other models) will please you and taste. A healthy vegetable will become a favorite in your family in a perfect combination with hearty cereals.
Other porridge recipes
Millet porridge
Millet porridge in a slow cooker
Wheat porridge
Wheat porridge in a slow cooker