Pumpkin stuffed with everything good
Yield: Makes 2 to 4 servings
• 1 pumpkin, about 3 pounds
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• » pound stale bread, thinly sliced and cut
into ½-inch chunks
• » pound cheese, such as Gruyère, Emmenthaler, cheddar, or a combination, cut into ½-inch chunks
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, drained,
and chopped
• » cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions • 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Directions:
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to
350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment.
2. Using a very sturdy knife — and caution — cut a cap out of the top of the pumpkin as you would a jack-o’-lantern. 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 prepared baking sheet.
3. Toss the bread, cheese, garlic, bacon, chives (or scallions) and thyme together in a bowl. Season with pepper (add salt, if you are not using the bacon) and pack the mix into the pumpkin. The pumpkin should be well filled; you may have too much mix, or too little. Stir
the cream with the nutmeg and some salt and pepper and pour it into the pumpkin.
4. 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. 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.
5. When the pumpkin is ready, bring it to the table with care — it’s heavy, hot and wobbly.
Per serving (based on 4 servings): 451 calories; 25 g fat; 12 g saturated fat; 58 mg cholesterol; 18 g protein; 42 g carbohydrate; 11 g sugar; 3 g fiber; 620 mg sodium; 303 mg calcium
—Slightly adapted from a recipe in “Around My French Table,” by Dorie Greenspan