Stuffed Pumpkin
I always stuff my turkey for Thanksgiving however, after purchasing Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table in 2010 I had to try her stuffed pumpkin. Since then I make it often for my family when making a turkey breast or turkey roulade.
However, if you don’t stuff your Thanksgiving turkey then you should definitely give this recipe a try. The stuffing resembles a savory bread pudding blended with cheese, bacon and cream, and when stuffed into a pumpkin, creates a unique and satisfying dish that I think everyone at your table will enjoy – not to mention wow their socks off!
If you haven’t decided on your stuffing yet for Thursday nights special dinner, give this a whirl, you’ll be glad you did. In fact, my guess it will become a Thanksgiving staple at your table in the coming years.
Here’s the recipe……………..
Stuffed Pumpkin
Ingredients:
- 1 pumpkin, about 3 pounds
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 pound stale bread, thinly sliced and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1/4 pound cheese, such as Gruyère, Emmenthal, cheddar, or a combination, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 2–4 garlic cloves (to taste), split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped
- 4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, and chopped (optional)
- About 1/4 cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
- About 1/3 cup heavy cream
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Directions:
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment, or find a Dutch oven with a diameter that's just a tiny bit larger than your pumpkin. If you bake the pumpkin in a casserole, it will keep its shape, but it might stick to the casserole, so you'll have to serve it from the pot. If you bake it on a baking sheet, you can present it freestanding, but maneuvering a heavy stuffed pumpkin with a softened shell isn't so easy but doable. My favorite way to cook and serve this is in a ceramic pie plate – it bakes well and looks pretty when served.
- Using a very sturdy knife—and caution—cut a cap out of the top of the pumpkin (think Halloween Jack-o-Lantern). It's easiest to work your knife around the top of the pumpkin at a 45-degree angle. You want to cut off enough of the top to make it easy for you to work inside the pumpkin. Clear away the seeds and strings from the cap and from inside the pumpkin. Season the inside of the pumpkin generously with salt and pepper, and put it on the baking sheet or in the pot.
- Toss the bread, cheese, garlic, bacon, and herbs together in a bowl. Season with pepper—you probably have enough salt from the bacon and cheese, but taste to be sure—and pack the mix into the pumpkin. The pumpkin should be well filled—you might have a little too much filling, or you might need to add to it. Stir the cream with the nutmeg and some salt and pepper and pour it into the pumpkin. Again, you might have too much or too little—you don’t want the ingredients to swim in cream, but you do want them nicely moistened. (It's hard to go wrong here.)
- Put the cap in place and bake the pumpkin for about 2 hours—check after 90 minutes—or until everything inside the pumpkin is bubbling and the flesh of the pumpkin is tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife. Because the pumpkin will have exuded liquid, I like to remove the cap during the last 20 minutes or so, so that the liquid can bake away and the top of the stuffing can brown a little.
- When the pumpkin is ready, carefully, very carefully—it's heavy, hot, and wobbly—bring it to the table or transfer it to a platter that you'll bring to the table.
- Serving: Slice portions or spoon out portions of the filling, making sure to get a generous amount of pumpkin into the spoonful.
Variations on Stuffing: Instead of bread, fill the pumpkin with cooked rice—when it's baked, it's almost risotto-like. Add cooked spinach, kale, chard, or peas (the peas came straight from the freezer).
Cook with or without bacon (a wonderful vegetarian dish), add cooked sausage meat or cubes of ham in place of the bacon.
Nuts are a great addition, as are chunks of apple or pear or pieces of chestnut
Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan
Hi, I’m Vicki Bensinger! I have been teaching culinary classes throughout Missouri since 1992. I offer personalized private culinary classes for individuals and small groups in the comfort of your home or organization.
Oh, I love this recipe! The filling is so darn tasty! I wish my family wasn’t so picky as then I’d make it for Thanksgiving, too. Hope you have a terrific holiday!
We won’t be having this for Thanksgiving. I make this at other times. My family likes a stuffed turkey a tradition we’ve been doing forever.
I’m all for having my socks wowed off! We usually bake our stuffing separately from the turkey (the turkey cooks faster when you do). Never thought of stuffing a pumpkin, though. Love the idea — this looks excellent. Thanks.
Oh John you have to try this, it’s so much fun to bring to the table and even better to eat it.
I am crazy for anything pumpkin, Vicki. The filling sounds so great too.
It’s totally delicious!
Your pumpkin looks full of delicious flavours, hope it made your Thanksgiving super fabulous 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Actually we stuff our turkey but I’ve tried this before as a side dish to serve with a turkey breast and everyone loved it. I hope you’ll try it, I think you’ll enjoy it as well.
Wow, what a delicious and beautiful idea, Vicki. The filling does sound so good!
It is I hope you’ll try it.
Stuffed pumpkin??! This is something I’ve never seen before. I love love love this idea.
You’ll love it even more when you try it as will your guests. Have a nice holiday!
What an absolutely awesome idea Vicki!!! Love the idea and love the stuffing! Hope you and your family have a fantastic Thanksgiving.
It’s fun to bring to the table and so delicious! I’m sure you’d probably spice it up a bit, that’s the great thing about being the cook.