Pumpkin porridge - our joy

Pumpkin is not the most popular product in our kitchens, unfortunately. Its useful and medicinal properties deserve much more attention of housewives. Pumpkin porridge is tasty and useful, it is recommended for dietary and baby food. In combination with cereals, it is a hearty hot dish. In Russian culinary dishes from pumpkin and pumpkin appeared not earlier than the 17th century, and their recipes there are many.

During the post, pumpkin porridge with millet, cooked on water, was the most common dish. Millet and pumpkin, enriching and complementing each other, allowed to fill the lack of vitamins, minerals, fats in the diet of a severe fast.

An ancient and simple recipe of lean millet porridge is available even to an inexperienced culinary expert. For cooking, we need a half kilogram of already cleaned pumpkin, and a half cup of millet, three glasses of water, salt.

Sliced small pieces of pumpkin in cold water and cook. Millet and add to the already soft pumpkin, salt, cook for another half hour on low heat. When the pumpkin porridge thickens, it is better to put the pan with it in the oven (80-90 degrees of heating), but if this is not possible, then it is possible to "heat up" the porridge warmly. Actually, both the oven and the wrapping of porridge are a way to simulate the effect of a Russian stove, where cereal cereals and pumpkin are baked, and this made them especially tasty.

Giving such porridge with honey, jam, some sour-milk product. If desired, from it you can cook a casserole or pumpkin millet muffins. For the casserole in the ready-made chilled porridge it is necessary to drive in 2-3 eggs, add a little flour, mix thoroughly, transfer it to a heat-resistant patch. The oven should be heated to 180 degrees, bake until golden brown.

For fritters in porridge add 2-3 eggs, half a cup of flour and sour cream. Fry pancakes with vegetable oil.

Pumpkin porridge with carrots, millet and milk is a traditional recipe of the South-Russian cuisine. For two full portions we need 250 grams of pumpkin and carrots, 200 grams (a glass) of ground millet, milk - no less than three glasses, one root of parsley, celery root - 50 grams, salt, sugar, butter.

Millet soaked for an hour, peeled pumpkin and carrots grind (on a large grater or in a chopper), roots (parsley and celery) shredded.

In boiling milk we lower carrots, pumpkin, roots and cook on high heat. After fifteen minutes, add the swollen millet, salt and sugar (to taste) into the milk and vegetable mixture, and butter (two tablespoons). Cook the porridge on a slow fire, tightly closing the lid, for another half hour, then leave it on the off plate for pre-emption. Serve to the table hot with melted butter.

Such a pumpkin-vegetable porridge, cooked on the water, can be a perfect side dish to a meat dish. In this version, sweet peppers and tomatoes can be added to the dish, at the cooking stage.

In the baby food, all the useful properties of pumpkin are fully appreciated. Pumpkin and meat puree, mashed apples with pumpkin are included in the diet of very young children, cereal pumpkin is recommended for children already one year of age.

Soft fiber, iron, carotene (which is five times more than carrots), pectin - all these substances make the pumpkin an indispensable product of baby food.

Pumpkin porridge with rice will appeal to both children and adults. Peeled pumpkin (300 g) rubbed on a large grater and cooked with rice (100 grams) of two glasses of water. When both pumpkin and rice become soft, add one liter of milk, a little butter, salt. This porridge is especially delicious sweetened, so add sugar to taste and pour out a packet of vanilla sugar. In milk, on low heat, rice and pumpkin cook for 15-20 minutes. Like any porridge, this requires additional heat treatment - pre-emption. Leave it for half an hour in a warm place. Milk pumpkin porridge with rice can be served with honey, jam, some berry syrup.