Savory pumpkin and oat casserole

I asked my love - what does he think of this kind of a new recipe: a creamy pumpkin and pasta casserole but there are oats instead of the pasta. He said yes and even mentioned that there should be more recipes using oats. I agree. Even more so because we eat a lot of pasta anyway and I just had a pack of rolled oats and a cute homegrown pumpkin (thanks mom). To be honest, I have a wanted to post a savory recipe like this for ages. Where the oats shine more than in a regular morning porridge. I also like my oat porridge to be more hearty, so I almost always serve it with baked beans or with fried onions for example. And I have absolutely no problem eating buckwheat flake porridge the whole day. I love to sprinkle it with a little bit of olive oil and nutritional yeast flakes. Add some fresh tomato salad and this filling chickpea and onion omelette and you got yourself a very sturdy breakfast or brunch.

Coconut milk makes this casserole super creamy. I remember that many years ago I wasn't a fan of this little gem. But now it is obvious for me to use it in this cheesy baked mac and zucchini for example. Or toss it into other savory dishes to make them extra creamy. This casserole also contains chopped sun-dried tomatoes, thyme and a little bit of curry powder. My mom's pumpkin had such a tender skin so it was very easy to peel. Not like that store-bought pumpkin which had a terribly thick skin and it was a nightmare to peel it. Since it is the pumpkin season, check out these other delicious pumpkin recipes.

PS! If you want to make this dish gluten-free, just use certified gluten free oats and replace the soy sauce with tamari or add a little bit of more salt.

Serves: 6 people

Preparation time: 30 minutes active, 30 minutes passive. Total: 1 hour.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Tbsp sun-dried tomato oil
• 3 onions
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 ½ lbs / 1,1 kg grated pumpkin flesh
• 2 cups / 250 g rolled oats (uncooked)
• 2 cups / 480 ml water
• 10 sun-dried tomatoes in oil (couple of handfuls)
• 14 oz / 400 g can coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tsp curry powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 F / 200 C. Heat up some oil in a thick-bottomed pot or in a deeper pan. Add chopped onions, one teaspoon of salt and thyme. Stir and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Add grated pumpkin and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add oats and water and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add another teaspoon of salt, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, coconut milk, soy sauce and curry powder. Stir and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Pour the mix into a greased deep dish baking pan and bake the casserole for 30 minutes at 400 F / 200 C.

Video recipe: