Best Stuffed Thanksgiving Pumpkin Recipes

THANKSGIVING STUFFED PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place the almonds in a skillet over medium heat, and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly toasted.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion until tender.
• In a bowl, mix the onion, eggs, mayonnaise, cream of mushroom soup, and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper. Scoop 1/3 of the mixture into the pumpkin. Layer with 1 cup cheese and 1/3 stuffing, and drizzle with 1/3 melted butter. Sprinkle with 1/3 toasted almonds. Repeat layers. Place pumpkin on a baking sheet.
• Bake pumpkin 1 hour, or until filling is hot and bubbly. Cover pumpkin with aluminum foil if it begins to brown.

STUFFED THANKSGIVING PUMPKIN

Steps:

• 1. In a saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add wild rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour, or until tender. 2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). 3. Remove the top of the pumpkin and scoop out pulp and seeds. Prick the pumpkin interior with a fork and rub with 1 teaspoon salt and dry mustard. 4. Heat bacon grease in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the ground venison and onion. Slowly cook and stir until evenly brown. Remove from heat. Mix in the wild rice, remaining salt, eggs, sage and pepper. Stuff the pumpkin with the venison mixture. Place pumpkin in a shallow baking pan with 1/2 inch water. 5. Bake the pumpkin in the preheated oven 1 1/2 hours. Add more water to the pan as necessary to avoid sticking.

VEGETARIAN THANKSGIVING STUFFED PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Pre-cook pumpkin: Carefully cut a circle around stem and remove top of pumpkin. Scrape out seeds and stringy pulp. Place pumpkin in casserole dish, add 1 inch of water to dish, place top back on pumpkin, and bake at 425 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. While pumpkin is baking, prepare filling: Cook grains according to package directions. Separately, saute onions, garlic and celery in 2 TBSP olive oil until golden (do not brown). Add mushrooms and continue saute until most water has evaporated. Add walnuts, sherry, sage, thyme, cayenne and salt to taste. Saute for 1 minute. When grains are cooked, mix grains with onion mixture, shredded cheese, beaten egg and parsley in large bowl. Fill partially cooked pumpkin with the filling. Replace top. Add water if needed, to 1 inch. Bake stuffed pumpkin at 375 for 45 minutes. Any filling not used for stuffing pumpkin can be baked separately in a casserole dish for about 25 minutes. To serve, place pumpkin on attractive serving dish, cock top to side (to reveal stuffing), and garnish with a sprig of fresh sage. Scoop out filling and some of the sides of the pumpkin when serving. Great reheated!

NEO-CLASSICAL THANKSGIVING DRESSING WITH APRICOTS AND PRUNES, STUFFED IN A WHOLE PUMPKIN

Steps:

• Cut off and reserve a lid, as you would preparatory to carving a jack-o'-lantern. Scoop out all of the seeds and fibers. Put an inch or two of water in a large pot. Place the pumpkin, cut side down, in the water, cap wedged in near it. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover tightly and team for 10 to 15 minutes to precook slightly. Remove the pot from the heat and let cool. When cool, remove from the pot. Since the pumpkin will be eaten with the stuffing, I like to season the inside with salt, pepper, a little tamari, Pickapeppa, and brown sugar, rubbing this into the exposed interior flesh after steaming.
• 1. Place the apricots and prunes in a small, heatproof bowl. Place the apple juice in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately pour the juice over the dried fruit. Let stand for at least 2 hours, but overnight or a day or two in advance is fine. Drain the dried fruit, reserving both the fruit and the soaking liquid. Coarsely chop the fruit and set aside.
• 2. Preheat the oven to 375°F, then turn down to 200°F.
• 3. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and place a single layer of bread slices on the rack. Place in the preheated oven and bake, slowly, turning once, until the bread is hard, crunchy, and dry all the way through, but not browned. This is a fairly slow process - it might take 45 to 60 minutes, but set the timer at 20-minute intervals to remind you to check. You with either need to do 2 sheets' worth of bread (in which case, reverse their positions in the oven halfway through), or repeat the toasting process again until all bread is prepared. Remove the dry bread from the oven and let cool.
• 4. Coarsely crumble the bread into a large bowl. Add the onion and leafy celery and toss to combine. Measure the sage (starting with the smaller amount) into your hands and rub the leaves back and forth in your palms until they crumble (this releases the volatile essential oils). Add the sage to the bread mixture. Pour the melted butter over the mixture and toss well to combine. Add the soaked dried fruit and toss again. The dressing should still be dry. Begin adding the liquid, a combination of vegetable stock and the reserved fruit soaking liquid. Use more stock than juice, and use just enough to moisten the dressing without making it soggy. Keep tossing, adding stock as needed. Add tamari, starting with about 1 tablespoon. Taste for salt and add it and plenty of pepper to taste. More sage, maybe? This is also the point at which you can add a little dried basil and oregano, too, if you like. The stuffing can be prepared up to this point and stored, covered and refrigerated, overnight.
• 5. On the day you plan to stuff the pumpkin, preheat the oven to 375°F.
• 6. If not using nonstick, spray a baking dish large enough to accommodate the pumpkin with cooking spray.
• 7. Stuff the dressing into the cavity of the prepared pumpkin, topping with the pumpkin's cap. Place the stuffed pumpkin in the prepared baking dish. Place in the preheated oven and bake until the pumpkin is slightly brown and looks a bit collapsed in on itself, or, as Ned says, like a plump European duchess, about 40 minutes. Serve whole, at the table.