Makes 2 very generous or 4 more genteel servings
1 pumpkin, 2½–3 lbs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ lb stale bread, thinly sliced and cut into ½-inch chunks
¼ lb cheese, such as Gruyère, Emmenthal, cheddar, or a combination, cut into ½-inch chunks
2–4 garlic cloves (to taste), split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, and chopped (my addition)
About ¼ cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions (my addition)
1 Tablespoon minced fresh thyme (my addition)
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. (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 a choice — you can either 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, 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.
Bonne idée
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 (a wonderful vegetarian dish), and I’ve also made it and loved, loved, loved it with cooked sausage meat; cubes of ham are also a good idea. Nuts are a great addition, as are chunks of apple or pear or pieces of chestnut.
FAQs
For even more flavor, you can add spices (like the celebrated pumpkin pie spice!) to the purée during the cooking step. Heating spices “blooms” them, releasing their flavorful, fragrant oils.
How do you get moisture out of canned pumpkin? ›
The easiest is to spread your puree out on a cookie sheet and blot it with a paper towel. If you have a little more time on your hands, you can put your pumpkin puree either on the stove or in the oven to cook off a bit of moisture.
How do you get the water out of pumpkin puree? ›
Place pumpkin puree in a square of cheesecloth and suspend over a deep bowl at least 8 hours or overnight to remove excess water. Squeeze cheesecloth gently to extract even more water, discard liquid; set puree aside.
Can you make pumpkin puree with pumpkin guts? ›
and you'll find the guts from that Halloween pumpkin are pretty stringy. but I discovered when you blend them up with a little warm water. they actually make a beautiful bright orange purée.
What brings out pumpkin flavor? ›
"It's actually a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves." Pumpkin flavoring actually harkens back to the pilgrims, Cundiff says. "In the early 1600s, pumpkins were a source of vitamins and minerals and used in a multitude of dishes prepared to help nourish the pilgrims," Cundiff says.
What spices enhance pumpkin? ›
Pumpkin is notorious for pairing well with warm winter spices – as found in a variety of Moroccan-inspired cuisines. Try incorporating cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cumin and chilli with your pumpkin dishes for flavour-packed feasts.
Should you drain canned pumpkin? ›
*Draining the pumpkin puree is optional, for those cooks who want the most perfect, persnickety puree. I've skipped this step for over a decade and still had great baking/cooking results using homemade puree.
How do you dry the inside of a pumpkin quickly? ›
Prevent puddles of moisture from sitting inside the pumpkin by inverting it onto a clean, dry rag and letting it dry completely. Give the pumpkin at least 20 minutes to dry. You could let it sit up to 1 hour if desired, though.
Why does my pumpkin filling pull away from the crust? ›
According to the experts at Libby's Pumpkin, if you bake the pie too close to the oven's top heating element, the filling can "skin" and crack as it bakes. This can also cause the filling to settle while cooling and pull away from the crust. For the best results, bake your pie in the lower third of the oven.
Why is my pumpkin filling watery? ›
If you notice liquid on the top of your pie while it's still in the oven or still hot, then it has been overbaked. Just as above, the proteins in the custard have toughened too much, squeezing out the liquid from the filling.
If a batch of pumpkin puree appears thin or watery, let it drain in a fine-meshed strainer for 1 hour to remove excess liquid. Most roasted or steamed pumpkin just needs a quick mash to turn soft and creamy-smooth. If lumps remain, place the puree in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.
What if pumpkin is too dry for puree? ›
Remove the pumpkin from the skin and discard any pieces on top that may be tough. Add it to a food processor or high-powered blender and puree until smooth. If the pumpkin seems dry, add a few tablespoons of water until it is moist and resembled the puree you see in a can.
Is there a difference between canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree? ›
Canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree are the same thing, and you'll often see the terms used interchangeably in recipes and cookbooks. Unlike pumpkin pie mix, canned pumpkin does not have any spices, sugars, or other additives. In many cases, the only ingredient is pumpkin.
What is the difference between pureed pumpkin and pumpkin pie filling? ›
Although they both come in cans and the packaging looks almost identical, they can't be used interchangeably. Pumpkin puree doesn't have anything added to it, but pumpkin pie filling comes with pumpkin spice and sugar already mixed in.
What to do with the inside of a pumpkin? ›
Puree your pulp on its own and add it to canned pumpkin puree to boost flavor in pumpkin recipes like pumpkin bread. You may also add the puree directly to foods like oatmeal, rice and risotto, hummus and butter—for pumpkin butter.
How to make pumpkin purée less bitter? ›
As pumpkins cure, more sugar content builds up within the flesh of the pumpkin, resulting in a sweeter end product. Making homemade pumpkin puree with a pumpkin that hasn't been fully cured will give you an almost bitter-tasting puree. It's really worth it to be sure the pumpkins have been cured long enough.
Does canned pumpkin need to be cooked before eating? ›
Is canned pumpkin cooked? Yes, it's already been cooked via steaming. It's safe to eat canned pumpkin straight from the can, but it's infinitely better baked into a pan of pumpkin bars.
Does homemade pumpkin puree taste better? ›
But the best reason to make homemade pumpkin puree is that it tastes so, so much better than canned! It's thicker, fresher, and sweeter tasting than canned. I used homemade pumpkin puree when baking pumpkin bread this weekend.
Does cooked pumpkin taste good? ›
Pumpkin tastes a lot like any other orange squash. However, it is very adaptable to spices, so pumpkin pie is delicious. I use a lot of pumpkin to make cookies, pies, pumpkin breads and a delicious pumpkin roll stuffed with cream cheese.
