This healthy, vegan pumpkin and carrot gratin is my contribution to Veganuary and has quickly become one of my staple lunch dishes. Its texture is super creamy and velvety, yet it’s nourishing and extremely easy to make. All-in-all, it is the perfect, comfort-oozing winter dish.
The entire preparation can be done in a high-speed blender saving you a lot of chopping time. I use an Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender.
Don’t worry if you don’t own a blender, it can as well be prepared by chopping the ingredients the traditional way. The pumpkin gratin will last in the fridge for a couple of days and can be safely re-heated.
Why is this Vegan Pumpkin And Carrot Gratin healthier than a regular gratin?
A gratin is usually a dish with a lightly browned crust of breadcrumbs or melted cheese. In this case, I haven’t added any of these. Instead, the crust is made from finely chopped walnuts and pumpkin seeds.
This way we add in some healthy omega 3 fatty acids from the walnuts and lots of zinc from the pumpkin seeds.
Omega-3 fatty acids come in more than one form. The types found in fish, called DHA and EPA, seem to have the strongest health benefits. Another form known as ALA is found in vegetable oils, flaxseed, walnuts, and dark leafy vegetables such as spinach.
If you would like to learn more about Omega 3 fatty acids, I have written more about it on my “How To Make Your Own Omega 3 Seed Mix” post.
Little Tip: In case you find the gratin a little too rich, just replace half of the oat cream with a plant-based milk of your choice.
You probably know that I love pumpkin recipes make sure to also check out these
- Easy Pumpkin Soup With Coconut Milk
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread Rolls
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
- Vegan Kale And Pumpkin Soup With Orzo
- Raw Pumpkin Seed Butter
Your turn
What is your favourite pumpkin dish? I’m looking forward to reading your comments.
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Vegan Pumpkin and Carrot Gratin
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup walnuts halves
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 12 ounces pumpkin cut into chunks, Hokkaido or butternut squash are fine as well
- 12 ounces carrots cut into chunks
- 2/3 cup cranberries dried
- 1 onion halved
- 6 stalks parsley
- 1 3/4 cups oat cream can be substituted with soy or regular cream
- 1/4 cup oats instant oats work best (gluten-free if required)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F/ 180 °C.
- Add the walnut halves to a blender and blitz until they are roughly chopped. Transfer to a bowl, mix in the pumpkin seeds and set aside for the topping. If you don't have a high-speed blender just put the walnuts into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin. The same applies to the following steps if you don't have a blender just chop everything according to the instructions.
- Now place the carrot and pumpkin chunks into the blender and pulse until they are about a 1/4 inch in size. Fill them into an ovenproof dish or pan and mix in the dried cranberries.
- Place the onion and parsley into the blender and pulse until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides and push everything to the bottom. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Pour the oat cream mixture into the oven-proof dish and sprinkle with the walnut and pumpkin seed mixture. Bake for 30 minutes and serve immediately.
