Stuffed Pumpkin for Thanksgiving

For my first Thanksgiving in England, I took over a friend's kitchen in Cambridge and cooked a meal for eleven. A few of the guests were vegetarian, so I made two main dishes: a stuffed pumpkin and a turkey. I've made this several times for gatherings over the years--something about a pumpkin stuffed with bacon and bread and cheese seems to please everyone who eats it. Thanksgiving 2020 marks the first time in nearly a decade where I haven't held a Thanksgiving dinner party, so posting one of my favourite dishes to make for others feels like a good way to celebrate.

Looking forward to serving this to friends again when it's safe to do so.

 

Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good

From Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table, published in the Providence Journal on October 20, 2010

• 1 pumpkin, between 2.5 and 3 pounds (about 1 kilo). I have used larger and smaller pumpkins depending on what was available in the market, just adjust the amount of filling to the size of the squash.
  
• salt and black pepper
• 1/4 pound (about 114 g) stale bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  If your bread isn't stale, toast the slices in the toaster before cubing them. Any kind of bread you would use for toast will do. I like using a whole wheat (wholemeal) or seeded bread for its taste and texture
  
• 1/4 pound (about 114g) cheese--something strong and firm, like Gruyere, Emmenthal, Cheddar, or a combination, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2-4 gloves of garlic, coarsely chopped. If your garlic is old or you are sensitive to the taste, you may want to bash the cloves with the flat of a knife and remove the 'germ', which is the green or white bit at the centre of the clove (i.e. the green tip that starts growing when your old garlic starts sprouting). This makes the flavour less harsh.
  
• 4 slices of bacon (preferably streaky bacon or another kind with a decent amount of fat), cooked until crisp and then chopped. If you are feeding vegetarians, the recipe is still delicious without it,
  
• about 1/4 cup (about 33g) snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions (spring onions). When I don't have either of these around, I use half a small onion, sauteed until translucent in the fat from frying the bacon.
  
• 1 tsp dried thyme, or about 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• about 1/3 cup (79ml) heavy cream (double or single cream, it doesn't matter. I once tried to substitute whole milk and it was fine, but cream is much better)
  
• a pinch of fresh-grated nutmeg. f you don't have a nutmeg grater, you will want a very scant 1/4 tsp of pre-grated nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (about 176 degrees Celsius). If you have a pot or pie pan that's a bit wider than your pumpkin, grab that, otherwise use a baking tray.

Carefully cut the top off the pumpkin using a sharp knife, just as you would when carving a Halloween jack-o'-lantern.  You want a hole that's big enough for you to scrape out the seeds and stringy bits from inside the pumpkin, and off of the top. If you like toasted pumpkin seeds, set the seeds and pulp aside to deal with while the pumpkin is baking.

Make sure to salt and pepper the inside of the pumpkin generously--if you're using a salt of pepper mill, most of the seasoning will fall to the bottom, so you want to get your hands in there and spread the seasoning up on the sides of the pumpkin too. I once skipped this step and regretted it, so make sure you do it--pumpkins, like potatoes, taste good with lots of salt and pepper. 

Mix your garlic, bacon, bread, cheese, thyme, and nutmeg in a big bowl. Add pepper to taste. The bacon and cheese may give you enough salt, but taste the filling to see if it's to your liking. Mix in the cream--you don't want the filling completely soggy, since the pumpkin exudes liquid as it cooks, but you don't want it too dry either. It's a bit like stuffing a turkey--a clump of filling should stick together when you pick it up and lightly squeeze it in your hand. Stuff the filling inside the pumpkin.

The precise amounts of bread and cheese and cream you need will depend on the size of your pumpkin. You want to be able to get the lid back on but the pumpkin should be quite full. If you need more filling, just toast and chop some more bread (or just chop it if it's stale), cube a bit more cheese, and add it, with some dribbles of cream, until your pumpkin is filled.

Put the cap on and bake the pumpkin for somewhere between 90 minutes and two hours, or until the filling is bubbling and it's easy to poke a dinner knife into the side of the pumpkin. I usually check the pumpkin and rotate it (my oven has a hot spot) after about the first 45 minutes to an hour of cooking.

After 45 minutes to an hour (for a smaller pumpkin) or an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes (for a larger pumpkin), take the top off so the pumpkin juices can bake away and the top of the filling gets a bit browned. If you forgot to set a timer, this is around when you can poke a knife into the pumpkin but there is still some resistance. The skin of the pumpkin may be golden and blistered in a few spots. Bake the pumpkin with the top off for approximately 20-30 minutes, or until done.

The pumpkin is ready when you can easily stick a dinner knife in its side. Carefully carry the pot to the table or transfer it to a serving plate. If you've got it on a baking tray, take care when carrying it--the pumpkin is very hot and may be a bit wobbly. Cut into 2-4 pieces (small pumpkin) or 4-8 pieces (large pumpkin), and enjoy.

Number of servings depends on the size of pumpkin and diners' hunger levels. Dorie Greenspan says it serves 2-4. I've found that a large pumpkin can serve at least eight, especially if there are other dishes on the table.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are edible and tasty. I like to separate them from the pulp under running water--don't worry about getting them 100% clean, but it helps to remove some of the pumpkin goop.

Put your pumpkin seeds in a pot and cover with several inches of water. Add LOTS of salt (seriously, if you have a good number of seeds from a large pumpkin, you can use a whole tablespoon) and bring to a boil. Or boil the water in your kettle and pour it over the seeds and salt.

Boil the seeds for about 20 minutes or so. I have done as few as 15 minutes and sometimes over thirty, the timing doesn't have to be exact. Pour off all of the water and spread the seeds out on a baking sheet.

You can blot the seeds with a paper towel so they're mostly dry but I don't always bother. Pour over a few teaspoons of oil (you want the seeds to be coated but not swimming) and season to taste. I typically use a little salt (you don't need much after boiling them in salt water), pepper, and about 1/2 tsp paprika or chili powder.

Bake the seeds in the oven with the pumpkin. Check them, and give them a little stir, every 10-15 minutes. It can take them about half an hour to bake--they are done when they look dry and are golden.

Enjoy a nice snack while you're waiting for your pumpkin to finish baking.

Finding a Pumpkin in the UK

Unlike in the United States, there doesn't seem to be much of a distinction between jack-o'-lantern pumpkins (said to be stringy and tasteless) and varieties of pumpkin grown for eating. I have made this recipe with carving pumpkins from a grocery store or vegetable stand and found them to be excellent eating. 

Finding pumpkins in the UK can be challenging--they typically start appearing a few weeks before Halloween and then vanish from stores on 1 November.  I get around this by buying my first pumpkin as soon as I see them in stores, and then buying a second (or third) one right before Halloween. Provided the pumpkin skin is free from nicks or soft spots, I've been able to keep them in the kitchen for cooking for at least a week or two--and sometimes as long as a month.

I have found that this recipe also works well with a crown prince squash (which is shaped like a pumpkin and has a light green skin). Actually, I've had good results with any pumpkin shaped squash--just make sure to choose one you can safely carve a lid in.

Both of these pumpkins were used to make stuffed pumpkin.