Friday, October 28, 2011

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good: French Fridays with Dorie

I should have continued with our Halloween Party preparations, but we needed something for dinner and I was so intrigued by this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe: Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good.


At about 4:00 yesterday afternoon, I decided to zip off to the store for my pumpkin and stuffing ingredients, knowing it would take me about 30 minutes to prep everything, two hours for the pumpkin to bake, and another 20 minutes to photograph, before we could eat. It was a rather late dinner, but one that was surprisingly wonderful.

Stuffed and ready to go into the oven

Basically, you start with a small, 3-pound pumpkin. Then, in a bowl, toss together cubes of crusty French bread, Gruyere cheese, chopped bacon, garlic, herbs, and heavy cream. Variations are endless.  Stuff it all into the hollowed out pumpkin, put the lid back on, and bake for 90 minutes. Take the lid off and continue baking another 20-30 minutes. Slice and serve.  Be sure to scrape away some of the sweet pumpkin with every bite of cheesy, bacon studded, moist stuffing.

For a touch of greenery, I added Swiss chard from the garden.  I sauteed the garlic and greens in the pan I used to cook the bacon before mixing it in with the bread cubes. I also threw in a handful of pine nuts.

Fresh, young Swiss Chard



You can find this Stuffed Pumpkin recipe on Epicurious.  I'm having such a marvelous time cooking through Around My French Table...you really should join us!  Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get back to the Pirate galley and continue with party food for tomorrow evening!

11 comments:

Elin said...

Wow...beautiful photos of your stuffed pumpkin. Your dish looks delish ! I love it and will make again this wonderful and delicious stuffed pumpkin. I used japanese pumpkin which is not overly sweet and I enjoyed it much.

SoupAddict said...

Swiss chard is always lovely! This is one of my favorite Dorie dishes - it's just brilliant in its variations.

Adriana said...

Your chard looks beautiful! This definitely sounds like the perfect meal for a busy day - as long as you are in no hurry to eat it with the long baking time. I hope your pirate/Halloween party is a complete success!

Tasty Trix said...

Love the addition of Swiss chard here!

Ei said...

Mmmmmm...swiss chard! Nice addition. Have fun at your party!

Carmen said...

For thirty years, I've adapted Julia Child's Pumpkin Soup (in a pot instead of a pumpkin) ... which is fairly close to this recipe - except I've always made it vegetarian. It's a family favorite ... but now, I think I'll add the chard and pine nuts. Thanks Denise!

Cher Rockwell said...

Love the thought of using chard with this.
Hope your party comes out wonderfully - aarrr'

Confessions of a Culinary Diva said...

I love your cast iron serving pan - great idea! The Swiss Chard would have been a great addition.

Happy French Friday!

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious! I love chard and think it would make a great addition. But as Dorie says, there are so many options for this recipe that it's really hard to go wrong.

Anonymous said...

how funny, I used peas in mine and i loved the color and taste! :) yours looks great!

tricia s. said...

Can't wait to hear (and hopefully see photos" from the big pirate bash ! Your pumpkin turned out just lovely and your photos are as beautiful as ever. Nana and I both liked this one and will play around with more variations until pumpkin season is over. One will definitely be sausage with pignoli nuts !