It’s a triumphant feeling to pull a whole pumpkin out of the oven, bubbling over with cheesy goodness, and set it in the center of your table. This here is an impressive entertaining recipe, and one that gives you a lot of “Wow Factor” for very little work. We served these here at our place for Christmas Eve. They’re pretty easy to put together, and I think they were well received.
Due Credit: We’ve borrowed this recipe idea from our friends at Roots to River Farm, who demonstrated to us just how delicious this concept could be. And for the execution, our recipe below is based off a recipe we found here at Epicurious.com.
Let’s get into it.
Ingredients
Preparation
1) Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lower third.
2) Toast baguette slices in 1 layer on a baking sheet in oven until tops are crisp (bread will still be pale), about 7 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
3) Remove top of pumpkins by cutting a circle (3 inches in diameter) around stem with a small sharp knife. Scrape out seeds and any loose fibers from inside pumpkin with a spoon (including top of pumpkin; reserve seeds for another use if desired). Brush outside of pumpkins all over with olive oil. Season inside of pumpkins with 1/2 teaspoon salt (total).
4) Whisk together cream, stock, nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Mix together cheeses in another bowl.
5) Put a layer of toasted bread in bottom of pumpkin, then cover with about 1 cup cheese and about 1/2 cup cream mixture. Continue layering bread, cheese, and cream mixture until pumpkin is filled to about 1/2 inch from top, using all of cream mixture. (You may have some bread and cheese left over.)
6) Cover pumpkins with tops and put in an oiled small roasting pan. Bake until pumpkin is tender and filling is puffed, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
Note:
Pumpkin can be filled 2 hours before baking and chilled.
Hi Stephan & Meave!
I just got a small sugar pumpkin to roast. I loved your recipe and beautiful presentation at one of our Christmas Eve dinners. Yum. Wish me luck.