Stuffed Baby Pumpkins

By Kim Severson

Stuffed Baby Pumpkins
Jessica Emily Marx for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Rating
4(161)
Comments
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Sarah Frey, who sells more pumpkins than anyone else in America, often entertains retailers and produce executives at her farmhouse in southern Illinois. She likes to serve white baby pumpkins stuffed with spinach and cheese. Along with their orange counterparts, mini-pumpkins are often considered more decorative than culinary. But they make a dramatic side dish that can be stuffed with any manner of fillings that complement the layer of soft, cooked pumpkin that clings to the skin. This recipe uses Gruyère and kale, with pine nuts for texture and red pepper flakes for heat. The hardest part is carving off the pumpkin tops and cleaning out the tiny seeds. Bake for an hour, then test; it is hard to predict how much time each pumpkin takes to become tender when pierced with a fork.

Featured in: America’s Pumpkin Queen Has a Request: Don’t Carve, Cook

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 6mini-pumpkins, preferably the white variety
  • ¼teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more to prepare the shells
  • 2tablespoons butter
  • 2scallions (about ⅓ cup), chopped
  • 1large garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 4cups baby kale or stemmed and roughly chopped lacinato kale (about 4 ounces)
  • 1teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • ½cup white bread crumbs, lightly toasted
  • ⅔cups shredded Gruyère cheese
  • ¼cup pine nuts, toasted
  • ¼teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ¼cup heavy cream
  • 1tablespoon olive oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

224 calories; 18 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 164 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the pumpkins. With a small, sharp knife, remove the tops as if for a jack-o'-lantern. Scoop out the seeds and stringy insides with a spoon, leaving the flesh intact. Rinse, then rub with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat, then add the scallions and cook for a few minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute or so, until fragrant. Add the kale and cook until it just wilts, about 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice and transfer to a bowl. Add the bread crumbs, cheese, pine nuts, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, ¼ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon black peppers. Mix well, then stir in the cream.

  3. Step 3

    Divide the filling into the pumpkins and replace the tops. Rub a baking dish with olive oil and arrange the filled pumpkins in the dish.

  4. Step 4

    Bake for 1 hour, watching to make sure the tops don’t brown too much. Test the pumpkins by piercing with a fork. If the skin doesn’t pierce easily, remove the tops and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Replace the tops and serve hot.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
161 user ratings
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Comments

Catherine

It's easier to clean the pumpkins if you pre-cook a little (steam or bake a few minutes) and cool them first. First pierce the crown once or twice with a thin sharp knife where you expect to cut the top off later. Cook them just until they begin to soften, but are still firm enough to handle, which usually isn't very long.

Lee Norris

I adapted this recipe to fit into two halves of an acorn squash, which I already had and first pre-baked. I included of a couple of sauteed mushrooms one reader recommended. I substituted chicken broth for the cream, and instead of pine nuts I added toasted sunflower seeds (much healthier and less expensive.) This made a delicious stuffed winter squash and I'll make it again often.

Hope

This is a great way to use up ends of cheese, the more varieties the better. I learned this in the market in Bologna, Italy

Kristen

This is similar to a recipe I’ve used at Thanksgiving for years. ‘Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything’ from the staff at NPR and Dorie Greenspan Key differences: - made with a whole sugar pumpkin - uses cubed bread - BACON, ( everything is better with bacon ) As she points out there are a zillion variations - sausage, spinach, kale, rice instead of bread, nuts, chunks of apple. It’s a great vehicle.

SPS

I could not find any small baby pumpkins so I used the smallest I could find, red curl squash…a type of smaller pumpkin. I purchased 3. It would be helpful if the recipe actually gave a diameter. Had I had that information, I would have determined that I only needed one pumpkin to use all the stuffing, I probably should have tried to add some girth to the stuffing with rice and broth. The flavors were good as made with my larger pumpkins, but ratios were way off.

deene souza

A restaurant in Visalia, CA (near the Sequoia National Forest) called The Vintage Press is very famous for their stuffed pumpkins. You could probably find their recipe online somewhere. They add smoked Chicken for protein. They also use Jarlsberg cheese instead. Absolutely amazing. I’m eager to try this one!

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