Some good tips to follow:
First, choose your pumpkin carefully. If you plan on eating the flesh of the pumpkin, you may want to consider a variety that is grown specifically for eating. Traditional Jack-o'-lantern type pumpkins are typically very bland. I like to use the "Fairytale" variety we grow in our garden. Not only is it beautiful, it's pretty tasty too. That said, I have used just regular ordinary pumpkins too. You just may want to up the spices a bit to compensate.
Second, when you cut your pumpkin, try and make sure you cut straight across the top. If you cut the same way as you would a carving pumpkin you run the risk of your top caving in while the pumpkin bakes. Not good.
And lastly, this recipe calls for condensed soup-- like a lot of down-home type casseroles. If you'd prefer not to use the canned stuff, you might try giving a recipe like this a chance. I use only one can, unlike most recipes that call for two. If you are a fan of the condensed soup, you might like to throw the extra can in. For our family, one is just about right.
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Dinner in a Pumpkin
2 pounds pork sausage (or whatever mix of ground meats you'd prefer-- for a once-a-year treat, we're all about the sausage)
1 medium onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 apples (we typically use Jonathans or Golden Delicious)
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t chile powder
1/4 t cloves
1 1/2 cups brown & wild rice blend, uncooked
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 sugar pumpkin
1. Brown the sausage over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Drain meat, reserving a couple of tablespoons of the drippings in the pan. Set meat aside and keep warm.
2. Sauté onions and mushrooms in drippings until they are just starting to brown. Add garlic, apples, sugar, salt, pepper, and all spices, continue cooking just a couple of minutes longer.
3. Add rice and stock to pan, stirring well. Cover, and cook until rice is done.
4. While rice is cooking, preheat oven to 400°. Prepare pumpkin by cutting off the top, straight across. Remove seeds and pulp. Rub the inside of the pumpkin with additional salt, pepper, and spices. This will help add more flavor to the pumpkin flesh.
5. When rice is finished, add the sausage back to the mixture as well as the condensed soup. Stir well, and fill pumpkin with sausage and rice mixture. Replace top to pumpkin and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.
6. Bake at 400° for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until pumpkin is tender and flesh scoops away from rind easily. Serve by scooping rice mixture with a little of pumpkin flesh onto plates and enjoy!
Yield: One pumpkin will easily serve 10, likely more.
