Whole Stuffed Roasted Pumpkin Food

STUFFED PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cut the top off the pumpkin or squash and use a metal spoon to scoop out the seeds. Get rid of any pithy bits but keep the seeds for another time (see our pumpkin seed recipe ideas). Put the pumpkin on a baking tray, rub with 2 tbsp of the oil inside and out, and season well. Roast in the centre of the oven for 45 mins or until tender, with the 'lid' on the side.
• Meanwhile, rinse the wild rice well and cook following pack instructions, then spread out on a baking tray to cool. Thinly slice the fennel bulb and apple, then squeeze over ½ the lemon juice to stop them discolouring.
• Heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Fry the fennel seeds and chilli flakes, then, once the seeds begin to pop, stir in ½ the garlic and the fennel. Cook for 5 mins until softened, then mix through the apple, pecans and lemon zest. Remove from the heat. Add the mixture to the the cooked rice, then stir in the chopped parsley and taste for seasoning.
• Pack the mixture into the cooked pumpkin and return to the oven for 10-15 mins until everything is piping hot. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining lemon juice with the tahini, the rest of the garlic and enough water to make a dressing. Serve the pumpkin in the middle of the table, topped with pomegranate seeds and the dressing.

STUFFED PUMPKIN DINNER

Steps:

• Wash pumpkin; cut a 6-in. circle around top stem. Remove top and set aside; discard seeds and loose fibers from inside. Place pumpkin in a large Dutch oven. Fill with boiling water to a depth of 6 in.; add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is almost tender but holds its shape. Carefully remove and drain well; pat dry. , In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain well. Cool slightly; place in a large bowl. Add rice, tomato sauce, ham, eggs, garlic, oregano, pepper, vinegar and remaining salt. , Place pumpkin in a shallow sturdy baking pan. Firmly pack beef mixture into pumpkin; replace top. Leaving pan uncovered, bake at 350° for 1 hour. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove the top; if desired, use paper towel to remove excess moisture from top of meat. Slice pumpkin into wedges.

ROASTED STUFFED PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Fill a kettle with water, and bring to a boil. About an inch below the top of the pumpkin's ''shoulders,'' about where it would be cut to carve a jack-o'-lantern, slice a lid from top of pumpkin, and set it aside. Remove seeds and fibrous flesh from inside.
• In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the oil, and sauté the onion until it is softened. Add 2 minced garlic cloves, and sauté for 30 seconds. Stir in the cranberries, ginger, allspice, saffron and orange zest. Add the rice, and stir until it is glossy. Pour in stock, and bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat as low as possible. Cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile rub the inside of pumpkin with cut garlic clove, and rub with some salt to taste.
• When rice has cooked for 15 minutes, it will be damp and not very fluffy. Adjust seasoning to taste, and spoon into pumpkin cavity. Press lid firmly on top. It may sit above stuffing a bit like a jaunty cork. Wrap bottom two to three inches of pumpkin in a double layer of foil to protect it from contact with water during baking. Place in a roasting pan, and add about 1 inch of boiling water to pan.
• Bake the pumpkin until it is tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 1/2 hours. (If there is resistance when pumpkin is pierced, allow more baking time.) To serve, remove pumpkin from pan, and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes. Discard foil, and place pumpkin on a serving platter. Slice into segments like a cake. Place a wedge of pumpkin on each serving plate, and mound with rice stuffing.

WHOLE STUFFED ROASTED PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat; swirl to coat. Add sausages; cook 6 minutes or until browned on all sides. Remove to a large plate; when cool enough to handle, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Increase heat to medium-high; add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan. Add mushrooms; sauté 7 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to plate with sausage. Add butter and remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add garlic, celery, and onion; cook 5 minutes. Add berbere and cardamom; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add stock, peas, and salt; simmer 10 minutes. Add farro, potatoes, and carrots; simmer 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• While stew mixture simmers, cut out top of pumpkin, and reserve; remove strings and seeds. Wrap pumpkin in foil; place in a large roasting pan or baking dish.
• Drain tomatoes in a colander over a bowl (reserve juices for another use). Break up tomatoes with hands, allowing juices to drain. Stir tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, and parsley into stew. Ladle stew into prepared pumpkin. Place pumpkin top next to pumpkin on the pan. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until pumpkin flesh is tender and easily scooped from the sides. Serve stew along with spoonfuls of pumpkin.

THANKSGIVING STUFFED ROAST PUMPKINS RECIPE

Steps:

• Roast the Pumpkins and Squash: Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat to 350°F (180°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Working with one pumpkin at a time, use a sharp paring knife to cut the top of the pumpkin off in one piece (as when making a jack-o'-lantern). Carefully run knife along the cavity of the pumpkin to loosen seeds and stringy pulp, then use a spoon to scoop them out and scrape the cavity clean. Using the paring knife, scrape seeds and pulp from the tops as well. Discard seeds and pulp or reserve for another use (try roasting the seeds with one of our seasoning combinations for a snack). Repeat with remaining pumpkins.
• Make the Glaze (Optional): Whisk ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

PUMPKIN STUFFED WITH EVERYTHING GOOD

Steps:

• As written:.
• 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 - which is an appealingly homey way to serve it. 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. However, since I love the way the unencumbered pumpkin looks in the center of the table, I've always taken my chances with the baked-on-a-sheet method, and so far, I've been lucky.
• 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. (But 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:.
• You have choices:you can cut wedges of the pumpkin and filling; you can spoon out portions of the filling, making sure to get a generous amount of pumpkin into the spoonful; or you can dig into the pumpkin with a big spoon, pull the pumpkin meat into the filling, and then mix everything up. I'm a fan of the pull-and-mix option. Served in hearty portions followed by a salad, the pumpkin is a perfect cold-weather main course; served in generous spoonfuls or wedges, it's just right alongside the Thanksgiving turkey.
• Storing:.
• It's really best to eat this as soon as it's ready. However, if you've got leftovers, you can scoop them out of the pumpkin, mix them up, cover, and chill them; reheat them the next day.
• Greenspan's Stuffing Ideas:.
• There are many ways to vary this arts-and-crafts project. Instead of bread, I've filled the pumpkin with cooked rice - when it's baked, it's almost risotto-like. And, with either bread or rice, on different occasions I've added cooked spinach, kale, chard, or peas (the peas came straight from the freezer). I've made it without bacon, and I've also made and loved, loved, loved it with cooked sausage meat; cubes of ham are another good idea. Nuts are a great addition, as are chunks of apple or pear or pieces of chestnut.

MIDDLE EASTERN WHOLE STUFFED PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 210C/190C fan forced.
• Using a sharp knife, carefully cut a circle from the top of the pumpkin, leaving a 4 cm border.
• Wrap pumpkin lid in foil and place on a baking tray.
• Scoop seeds and membrane from pumpkin and discard.
• Place pumpkin, cut side down on a baking tray and cover with foil.
• Bake for 1 hour or until flesh is just tender.
• Meanwhile cook rice following packet instructions and drain and then transfer to a bowl and cover.
• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat and cook onion stirring for 5 minutes or until soft and then add lamb mince and cook stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the mince, for 6 minutes or until browned.
• Add harissa, cumin, cinnamon, chilli flakes, stock, chickpeas and lentils and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes or until heated through and season with salt and pepper and then add rice to lamb mixture and stir in the coriander and half the pistachios and set aside.
• Transfer pumpkin to a board and cut 1 cup of flesh from inside the pumpkin and roughly chop the flesh and add to rice mixture.
• Fill pumpkin cavity with rice mixture, pressing down firmly with the back of a spoon (see note in intro about excess mix) and return the lid to the pumpkin.
• Wrap pumpkin in foil and return to baking tray and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until tender when pierced with a skewer and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Remove foil from pumpkin and transfer to a plate (base will be quite soft) and cut into wedges and dollop with yoghurt and sprinkle with remaining pistachios and serve.