Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Using a sturdy knife, cut a cap out of the top of the pumpkin, jack-o-lantern style. Work the knife around the top of the pumpkin at a 45-degree angle, and be sure to cut off enough of the top to make it easy for you to work inside the pumpkin. Clear away the seeds and strings from the cap and the pumpkin’s inside. Save the seeds to roast later. Season the inside of the pumpkin generously with salt and pepper, and put it on the baking sheet.

Toss the bread or rice, cheeses, garlic, bacon, herbs and vegetables together in a large bowl. Season with pepper – there is probably enough salt from the bacon and cheese, but taste to be sure – and pack the mixture into the pumpkin. The pumpkin should be filled to the top. Stir the cream or broth with the nutmeg and some salt and pepper and pour it into the pumpkin over the other ingredients. Adjust the liquid so that the ingredients aren’t swimming in liquid, but they are nicely moistened.

Put the cap in place, and bake the entire pumpkin for about 2 hours – check after 90 minutes – or until everything inside is bubbling, and the inside flesh of the pumpkin is tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife. Because the pumpkin will have exuded liquid, remove the cap during the last 20 minutes or so, so that the liquid can bake away, and the top of the stuffing browns a little.

When the pumpkin is ready, carefully (it’s heavy and hot and wobbly) transfer it to a serving platter. To serve, dig into the pumpkin with a spoon, pull the pumpkin into the filling, and mix everything up. Serve immediately.