As soon pumpkins start appearing in the Hamptons farm stands, David starts asking for this dish. It’s a favorite in our house –a dish we start making on one of the first truly chilly weekends in October and serve from time to time through the Holidays. The whole roasted pumpkin full of steaming, fragrant filling is an impressive sight at the dinner table, but the dish is dead easy to make. It takes just a few minutes to put together and uses only easy-to-find ingredients (including plain old Jack-o-lantern pumpkins). It’s also incredibly delicious. More often than not, there are a few moments of silence as guests tuck into their bowls of sweet tender roasted pumpkin and scoops of velvety, cheesy filling.
I usually serve small bowls of this as a starter course for a more substantial meal, but it also makes an excellent side dish for roasted meat or poultry. Served with a green salad, it would also make a luxurious lunch for a special occasion.
Recipe
(Adapted from Gourmet magazine, November 2008. Serves 8.)
Ingredients
1 pumpkin, about 7 pounds (3kg)
6 oz (170g) grated Gruyere cheese
6 oz (170g) grated Emmenthal cheese
1 1/2 cups (355 ml) heavy cream
1 cup (235 ml) chicken stock
1 baguette (about 18 inches (45 cm))
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
olive oil (for brushing)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 450F.
2. Open the pumpkin with a short, sharp paring knife as if you’re making a Jack-o-lantern (making sure to cut away from you) and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits, leaving only the firm flesh. Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the interior.
3. Slice the baguette into about 1/2 inch slices, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet, and toast them in the oven for about 5 minutes. Cool.
4. Grate the cheeses and set aside in a bowl. Mix the stock, cream, nutmeg and a few grinds of pepper in another bowl.
5. Put a layer of the toasted bread in the bottom of the pumpkin. On top, place a handful of the cheeses and pour in about 1/2 cup of the cream mixture. Repeat until you’ve used all of these ingredients, or the pumpkin is within about an inch of being full. (You may have a little filling left over, or the pumpkin may not be quite full — don’t worry about either situation.)
6. Put the top back on the pumpkin, brush it all over with olive oil, place it in a roasting pan, and roast it in the oven for 80-90 minutes. When it’s done, the pumpkin should be beautifully browned, the flesh should be tender and just starting to separate from the skin, and the filling should be plumped up and steaming hot.
7. Present the whole pumpkin at the table (to richly deserved “oohs” and “aahs”) and then serve scoops of the rich filling with chunks of the roasted pumpkin alongside.
