Originally Posted by Jess – September 12, 2015
It’s hard to believe that Sarah and I passed our 250th post in 250 days of CSA365. This has been a wonderful and challenging task! There are weeks where the ideas and recipes flow with ease, and weeks where we are grasping to come up with new ways to enjoy our veggies. I’m happy to say that as the glimpse of the upcoming fall season is apparent in this week’s share box, the ideas are flowing freely.
If you like me received 5 watermelons in your share box (between the Full and Super Fruit share), you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. Sarah had a little watermelon feature last week that may help, a good Watermelon and Feta Salad is yummy, and there’s always Watermelon Gazpacho! As you cube, slice, and otherwise enjoy your melons, might I encourage you to save the rinds in the fridge, as we’ll have some fun with those later in the week!
So back to today’s recipe: I believe that it was Fellow Springdellian Beth that turned me onto this idea several years ago when she shared a link to Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good. Since then, I’ve stuffed many pumpkins with many different variations of good things, and am never disappointed.
Today, I decided to go with a Swiss chard variation to the baked stuffed pumpkin. Swiss chard pairs well with nutmeg and cream, so why not throw them into the pumpkin?
I found a baguette in the reduced section at the store and it was perfect for my pumpkin stuffing! Be sure to check the farmstand’s Island of Misfit Produce as well, as there is often great stuffing bread there waiting to be used! About 1/2 of this baguette was cubed and ready for the stuffing.
I added a bunch of chard that I wilted in garlic butter (about 4 cloves). I added maybe 1/2 cup of shredded gruyere and a few slices of crumbled bacon. The heavy dash of nutmeg added a nice flavor to the chard.
Next, about 1 cup of heavy cream went in. This was a small pumpkin I was working with and not a lot of moisture to be had, so I went a little heavy on the cream.
A little salt and pepper and into the pumpkin it goes!
This is the “before” shot. It’s okay to overstuff as you’ll find that the stuffing cooks down a bit. This went onto a rimmed cookie sheet before hitting the oven at 350.
I started checking it after an hour, but bigger pumpkins can go two hours. You want the pumpkin to be tender to your liking.
Here you have the final product! It was a flavor sensation!
I sprinkled a little brown sugar on the remaining stuffing and cooked it in a casserole dish. Yup, yummy time in the Anderson household!
These flavors worked in our house, but definitely mix it up! There are endless possibilities. I’ve had luck with a little kale sausage and cornmeal stuffed pumpkin, and anything with sage also works great. You can even take it in a sweeter direction with some maple cream and bread stuffing. See you tomorrow for our Sunday meal at the Bucks house, and as always, thanks for tuning in!