A French Pumpkin

John told me about an interview he heard on NPR with Dorie Greenspan, the author of a cookbook called "Around My French Table". On the radio show the author served one of her dishes called "Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good", and apparently the host, Michelle Norris, raved about it.

As my husband described a baked pumpkin filled with a concoction of bread cubes, cheese, garlic, herbs, bacon, and cream I was intrigued. A Google search turns up many articles, blogs, and recipe sites already buzzing about this dish, so maybe by the time I post this you have already heard about it.

I'm apparently not the only one who heard about the recipe, or heard the interview on NPR, and can't stop thinking about a "Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good". So, today at the store I gathered a couple ingredients I didn't have on hand, and my pumpkin is now baking in the oven.

I used cooked rice instead of bread since Greenspan claims it turns out quite like risotto, and I love risotto. It's funny that as I read the recipe I couldn't imagine other ingredients that would change the recipe up and be just as delightful, but while putting together the stuffing for the pumpkin I suddenly am inspired to add other ingredients. Cooked spinach, as Greenspan points out, is something I can see as a nice addition. If you use a stuffing of bread, golden raisins, chunks of apple, and walnuts finished off with cream enhanced by some cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and cloves...what a fantastic dessert!

Now I can't wait to try the sweet version of this recipe! I thought cooking this up tonight would allow me stop thinking about it, but I see I might not be able to rest until I've tried the alternative version of the recipe as well!

You can read the short article and recipe on NPR's website, but I'll join the club of bloggers and food connoisseurs (not that I put myself in that latter category) everywhere and post the recipe here for convenience.

One quick confession: I kind of like to read cookbooks. If this recipe is as scrumptious as Michele Norris apparently thinks it is, I will be tempted to pick up "Around My French Table", even though I have no practical need of another cookbook. Maybe a better idea would be to go peruse the book at a bookstore. Does that make me weird? I like to sit down with a cup of coffee and read through a cookbook?

OK. That's probably not the only thing that makes me weird.

Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good
Makes 2 very generous servings

1 pumpkin, about 3 pounds
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 pound stale bread, thinly sliced and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 pound cheese, such as Gruyere, Emmenthal, cheddar, or a combination, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2–4 garlic cloves (to taste), split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped
4 strips bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, and chopped
About 1/4 cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
About 1/3 cup heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

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.