Since it’s officially Fall and Halloween is almost here, I simply had to try a couple of pumpkin recipes. This Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good recipe has been on my radar for a while, but I have to admit that something about it intimidated me. Maybe because it gives a bit of latitude in the ingredients. Or maybe because I think French cooking is complicated (and it can be). I’m not 100% sure, but I’m determined to get over it and finally give this recipe a try.
You might consider serving this alongside the Thanksgiving turkey or even instead of it—omit the bacon and you’ve got a great vegetarian main course.
The Ingredients
The accompanying post gives the story behind this recipe and some background as to why it’s more of a guide. I realized I had some choices to make from the ingredients to the baking time. First up was the cheese: Gruyere, Emmenthal, or cheddar. I went with Gruyere because I know what it tastes like, it fit my budget, and it’s French. I’ve never tried Emmenthal, and it was pricey. Cheddar just seemed wrong.
Next up was chives or scallions. Chives aren’t outrageously expensive, but scallions are about 1/3 the price. I’m also more likely to use the leftover scallions, so they made the most sense for this recipe.
I did splurge on a loaf of country white bread from the bakery, though. Four fresh slices were around 5 ounces. Letting them sit unwrapped overnight in the refrigerator dried them out nicely and reduced the weight to just over 4 ounces.
The Process
All my worry about making this recipe was for absolutely nothing. It was easy! The most time-consuming part was removing the seeds and strings from the pumpkin. Really! Here is how I spent my time:
- 24 minutes to prep
- 90 minutes to bake
- 1 hour 54 minutes total
I used a 3-pound, 4-ounce pie pumpkin and had almost too much stuffing. That might have been due to the fact that the block of Gruyere cheese I used as 6 ounces instead of 4, but is there really such a thing as too much cheese? Not for me! I had to stuff the stuffing (pun totally intended), but it all fit.
The author says to bake the stuffed pumpkin for about 2 hours and check it after 90 minutes. She also mentioned removing the pumpkin’s cap for the last 20 minutes to let the stuffing brown. That meant I needed to check my pumpkin at just over an hour into baking, and I’m so glad I did. A knife pierced it easily by that time.
I removed the cap for the final 20 minutes of baking, and the stuffing bubbled up and over the rim a bit. Not enough to make a mess, and it sunk back down pretty fast after I removed it from the oven. I was left with a lovely deep orange stuffed pumpkin that smelled heavenly. I couldn’t wait to try it!
Seeding the pumpkin
