Stuffed Pumpkin
Ingredients:
- 1 baking pumpkin*
- 1 pound sausage (I like to use pork breakfast sausage)
- 2 cups cooked wild rice (can substitute farro or cubed bread)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 8oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 6oz gruyere cheese, cubed
- 4oz chopped walnuts, toasted
- 1-2 green apples, diced
- 1 egg + 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
* Pick a pumpkin size that will fit the number of people you are serving. Smaller baking pumpkins typically have better texture, so I will often choose 2-3 smaller pumpkins (3-5#) as opposed to one large pumpkin for larger crowds.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°
Wash the outside of your pumpkin(s), cut the tops, and scoop out the seeds. Make sure to get all of the membranes out so you aren’t left with a slimy shell.
Cook rice or farro according to package directions. It is best to slightly undercook it, as it will continue cooking in the pumpkin. If you would like your stuffed pumpkin to be more like stuffing, use cubed bread instead of rice. I prefer a combination of day old sourdough and cornbread.
Brown the sausage. If using a link style sausage, cut the casing and crumble prior to cooking. You want this to have the texture of ground beef rather than a sausage link. Remove sausage from pan, but leave grease drippings.
Sauteé the diced onions with the drippings from your sausage over low heat until they start to caramelize. Add in garlic, mushrooms, and apples and sauteé until softened and slightly brown.
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture seems very dry (likely if you used the bread alternative) whisk your egg and heavy cream and add to the mixture.
Scoop the mixture into your pumpkin(s) and fill to the top, but do not pack down. If you have extra filling it can be baked in a casserole dish covered with aluminum foil.
Place your filled pumpkin(s) on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake 30-60 minutes (times will vary based on pumpkin size) or until the flesh can be easily punctured by a knife.
During the last 10 minutes of baking, remove foil to allow for the top to brown.