Recipe: Sausage Stuffed Pumpkin

 

We have a LOT of seminole pumpkins this year.  The ripe ones are currently in Cletus' workroom curing.  

We do sometimes pick them green and use them as one would use summer squash.

Yesterday I decided to try sausage stuffed pumpkins.

We found some mild Italian Sausage at BJs which do NOT have high-fructose corn syrup (Cletus is allergic to corn).  I debated removing the meat from the skin and frying it up like bulk sausage, but decided to simply slice the links and fry them that way (primarily because that was Cletus' request).

I sliced the pumpkin in half, removed the seeds, and then wiped the flesh of the pumpkin with olive oil.  I lightly sprinkled some salt and pepper and put them flesh side down on a baking sheet, and cooked at 400 for 10 minutes, then flipped them over and cooked flesh side up for 10 minutes.  I would have used parchment paper on the pan but I had run out last week and forgot to pick some up when I was shopping.  Oops!  Because I did not have any parchment, when I flipped them over I put a very little bit of olive oil under each half to keep the skin from sticking to the pan.

While the pumpkin was cooking, I took a cup of onions (grown in our garden and frozen), and a half cup of bell peppers (again, from our own freezer stock) and sauteed them in olive oil til tender.  When I do this, I rarely take the time to thaw them; I simply mash them up a bit in the bag to separate the pieces and throw them in the hot frying pan frozen.  They pop a bit, but by the time the ice melts and the water has boiled off they are brown and tender.  Then I added the garlic (also home-grown and cured) and let it go for another couple minutes.

After this, I added the sliced sausage and some mushrooms and just let them cook until the meat was done.

Surprisingly, it worked out that the sausage mixture was done at the same time the pumpkins were done cooking (how often does that happen?!).

I spooned the mix into each pumpkin half, sprinkled some Parmesan on top, and put them back in the oven for another 5(ish) minutes.

A low-carb, VERY filling, meal!

The nice thing about this recipe is that it is adjustable.  Take whatever meat you happen to have on hand and like ~ ground chicken or turkey, sausage, ground beef, whatever floats your (pumpkin) boat.  If you use plain ground meat, I would spice it up a bit with parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (are you singing it yet?), or just whatever you prefer (if you happen to not be a Simon and Garfunkel fan).  If you do not care for onions, peppers, and/or mushrooms try diced potatoes, carrots, celery, or the vegetable of your choice.  Just use whatever you happen to have on hand and prefer.

If you are using pumpkins other than Seminole, you may need to increase the roasting time.  The flesh should be fork-tender and soft enough to easily scoop with a spoon.

Note: I used 2 pumpkins/4 halves.  The two of us will be eating left-overs for lunches the next couple of days! 

 

Sausage Stuffed Seminole Pumpkin

2 Seminole pumpkins  

1 pound sweet Italian sausage links sliced

1 cup onions

1/2 cup bell peppers 

1 cup mushrooms roughly chopped 

2 cloves garlic

olive oil

Parmesan cheese 

salt and pepper to taste  

Preheat oven to 400.  Slice open pumpkins and remove seeds.  Lightly rub flesh with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place flesh-side down on baking sheet lined with parchment (if you have it!  if not, lightly brush olive oil on the sheet).  Roast flesh-side down for 10 minutes, then flip over and roast an additional 10 minutes until flesh is fork-tender.

While pumpkin is roasting, sautee onions and peppers until tender and brown.  Add garlic and sautee for an additional minute or two.  Then add meat and mushrooms and cook until meat is thoroughly browned.  If meat mixture is done before pumpkins you can simmer while pumpkins finish.

Scoop meat mixture into pumpkin halves, sprinkle with Parmesan, and return to oven for 5 minutes.