Thursday, October 24, 2013

#Halloween Week! Lucy Burdette's Cornbread, Leek and Bacon Stuffed Pumpkins




LUCY BURDETTE: We're having Halloween Week on the blog this week--BOO! Tune in every day for a recipe of the season to serve to your goblins and ghosts. Tonka and I practiced with our hot dog costumes--we'll be wearing these in the Key West wiener wonderland parade in January, but Halloween seemed like a great time to try things out!

  And now on with the food....

I remember from years ago having a recipe for a big baked pumpkin. Maybe it was filled with soup? Maybe from the cookbook LAUREL'S KITCHEN? But I couldn't find anything similar to my memory. (Oh sigh, isn't that the case more and more these days?) 

I did find a Dorie Greenspan recipe for baked stuffed pumpkin--hers contained bread cubes, garlic, cheese and cream. I tweaked this to make it more savory. But you can add and subtract ingredients, according to what you like. (I considered adding sausage and apples and maybe some dried cherries...)

In photo above, see the unsuspecting pumpkins, thinking they will be part of the Halloween decor, not the dinner!

Ingredients

2 smallish sugar pumpkins, about 2 1/4 pounds each
3 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
2-3 leeks or an onion, cleaned and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2/3 recipe of cornbread (8 x 8 inch pan), crumbled
4 oz shredded cheese (I used swiss and cheddar)
Fresh dill chopped, as desired
chicken broth as needed

Wash the pumpkins and cut out the lids as if you were making jack-o-lanterns. Clean out the innards, saving the seeds to roast, if desired.





Fry the bacon, crumble. Saute the leeks and celery in olive oil over low heat until they are soft. Crumble the corn bread in a bowl, add the bacon, vegetables, and cheese. Combine all this nicely and moisten with chicken broth until it's the consistency of stuffing--not too dry and not too wet. I used about 3/4 cup.


Stuff the pumpkins and cover with foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven for one and a half to two hours. (Mine took two.) You will have to check for done-ness
as time will vary based on size of the pumpkin. You should be able to easily poke a skewer through the flesh. Remove the foil for the last 15-20 minutes so the top of the stuffing crisps up. I served this cut in quarters with a grilled pork loin and some roasted green beans. 

Happy Halloween!




Lucy Burdette is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries. MURDER WITH GANACHE will be out in February, but you can pre-order it now.

Follow Lucy on Facebook, or Twitter, or Pinterest! She loves it when you pin her stuff:)

17 comments:

  1. I'm a big fan of sugar pumpkins, and this is a clever way to use them. Savory is the way to go and this dish looks delicious. Thanks for the recipe. I will give it a try.

    ~ Cleo.

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    1. Thanks Cleo! I was tempted by the apple route, but the cheese and leeks called louder:)

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  2. This looks and sounds great. The slight sweetness of the pumpkin with the savory stuffing is a perfect combination.

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    1. I was inspired by this recipe and found "organic pumpkin pie pumpkins" as I walked into Fresh market yesterday. Well, I couldn't say No, could I? So, they are on the menu for this weekend. Thanks.

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  3. What a unique way to prepare and serve cornbread! This looks luscious, Lucy. Thanks for the post.

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    1. You are welcome Linda--and it was such fun to make. I did wonder if it would ever be done by dinner though...

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  4. You have outdone yourself with this bewitching recipe. Lucy/Roberta! Looks wonderful and I am betting it will taste great too.

    I am not familiar with sugar pumpkins, but will go research what they are called here in the great frozen north.

    Hugs and Happy Halloween! What a great kick-off!

    mj

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  5. I love this! It can be hard to find recipes for Halloween that are savory. This would be lovely at Thanksgiving, too. And I love the picture of you and Tonka! So cute!!!!

    ~Krista

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    1. Thanks Krista--it would be good for thanksgiving if it didn't overshadow the turkey!

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  6. I've never had a sugar pumpkin but now I'll have to go search them out! This looks and sound delicious. And Tonka is a real sweetheart for wearing that costume!

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    1. He was not happy about the costume LOL. We are going to have to practice before the parade

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  7. I love the costumes! Poor pup doesn't look so sure, but sweet! And the unsuspecting pumpkins...you sound like a murder mystery writer! LOL

    The recipe is perfect and I agree with Krista, perfect for Thanksgiving, too.

    Boo!
    Daryl/ Avery

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    1. Thanks Daryl. Can't wait to see the rest of the Halloween recipes!

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  9. This looks and sounds delicious. I'm thinking it might work with a small squash, as well.

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    1. Tis would definitely work with squash. And probably not take as long to bake

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