Leftover pumpkins? Here’s how to stuff them with “everything good” and bake for a cozy dinner …

Your fall pumpkins can move from the doorstep to the dinner table filled with delicious stuffings to create a cozy course for your friends and family.

The original Pumpkin Stuffed with everything good recipe comes from the incredible Dorie Greenspans book Around My French table. She received the recipe from her French pumpkin growing friends and adapted it to suit her tastes. Following her lead, I’ve modified the recipe over the years and am sharing my favorite version below. Use my recipe {below} and Dories as a guideline and add or subtract ingredients to suit your tastes. Of course, each pumpkin is different so you may need to modify the quantities to fit yours.

Wash the exterior of your pumpkin well and then use a large chefs knife to cut out the top, as you would for a jack-o-lantern, but creating a little wider opening to make it easier to fill.

Splendid Pumpkin stuffed with Everything Good

Feeds 4 – 6 people

1 pumpkin or squash, about 4 pounds

8 ounces baby washed spinach, washed

6 ounce box Stove top Cornbread stuffing mix

1 -1/2 cup water

1/4 pound cheese, such as Gruyère, Emmenthal, cheddar, or a combination, grated

4 garlic cloves (to taste), split and coarsely chopped

5 ounces cubed pancetta, sautéed {optional}

6 scallions, whites and 3 inches of the green, chopped coarsely

1 tablespoon capers

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1 tablespoon minced parsley

nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup of heavy cream

Preparation

Position the center rack in the oven to fit the pumpkin. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place pumpkin on a baking tray with a silicone liner or parchment paper, in a dutch oven or on a paella pan {as I did}. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the inside of the pumpkin to taste.

Pour the stuffing mix into a large mixing bowl and pour 1 – 1/2 cup water over the mix and stir until it is absorbed. Add the spinach, grated cheese, garlic cloves, pancetta, scallions, capers, thyme, parsley, nutmeg into the bowl and toss the ingredients together.

Stuff the mix into the cavity of the pumpkin, again, pumpkin size is not precise, so you may have too much stuffing or too little, you can pack it in because the spinach will wilt.

Next, evenly drizzle the heavy cream over the mix. Give the cream time to drip down through the mix to moisten all of the ingredients, you can lift the spinach leaves if it starts to puddle.

Place the lid on the pumpkin and slide it into the pre~heated 350 degree oven. Bake for approximately 2 hours or until the filling is bubbly and the flesh of the pumpkin is tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife. If the skin starts to darken you can tent it with a sheet of foil. Here is a tip from Dorie that I didn’t do, but would recommend as well “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 cooked through and the mix is bubbling carefully remove it from the oven. To serve it you can scoop out the filling and the pumpkin flesh with a large spoon or slice it.

This dish is so flexible! I served it with homemade tomato soup on Halloween night. It would also be an amazing side dish next to a Thanksgiving turkey or ham. If you have any leftovers, you can serve it up for brunch with poached eggs. Also, by omitting the pancetta you can create a hearty vegetarian dish.