I did my pumpkin carving the week after Halloween. Rather than waste the sweet flesh on an evil jack-o’-lantern, blog posts from the Kitchn.com and Dorie Greenspan inspired me to to bake a stuffed pumpkin.
Greenspan’s recipe is simple and elegant, requiring little more than a sharp knife, two hours for the pumpkin to bake and a handful of ingredients. Following Greenspan’s lead, I hollowed out a four and a half pound gourd and stuffed it in layers with two-thirds of a loaf of bread, 6 ounces gruyère, a half cup heavy cream, three chopped garlic cloves, a few tablespoons grated onion and salt and pepper to taste.
I baked the pumpkin—cap on—for an hour and a half, then removed the cap to brown the the stuffing, which puffed beautifully from the top of the gourd. I quartered the pumpkin and served it in wedges.
The sweet pumpkin and rich bread stuffing were a hearty, vegetarian delight. I kept the recipe basic for this first attempt, but I’ll revisit the dish with meat and/or herb add-ins. Greenspan added bacon to one of her pumpkins; sausage would also be nice. Herbs like sage and thyme also are classic pumpkin partners.
This orange beauty makes a capable main course but would work as a side dish, too—just as long as your main dish doesn’t have hang-ups about being overshadowed.