Baking

It's probably too late for this season, but this is a huge favorite in my house. After eating baked stuffed pumpkin at a restaurant, I scoured my cookbooks for a recipe. I found one in The River Cottage cookbook, which I dearly love - but it called for something like 4 cups of cream and 2 cups of grated cheese. I'm not a fat-phobe in the least, but that seemed a bit excessive. Around My French Table has a recipe that uses bread and bacon in the stuffing - but it was for a whole, large pumpkin to feed a crowd, and I never got around to trying it. One weeknight, finding myself with a small sunshine kabocha, I scaled down the recipe and it turned out great, but the squash was a little undercooked. I've made it several times since then, tweaking the recipe to pre-bake the squash and adding leeks and thyme. It's a cozy dinner for two with a salad and a glass of wine. I use small red kuri or kabocha for this when I can find them, but I've also made it with pie pumpkins and acorn squash - any sweet-fleshed winter squash will do. For the cheese I use a mix of Gruyere and Fontina, but you can use either one and I've also thrown in grated firm mozzarella if I had some around and it's great with that too. I use mutligrain or sourdough bread here, you want something chewy and rustic. This comes together in about an hour, a bit long for a weeknight but do-able depending on your day.

Share: