Stuffed Pumpkins

Full Printable Recipe Card

INGREDIENTS:

4 small cooking pumpkins with stems
2 loaves dry Italian bread
3 cups julienned carrots
2 cups julienned zucchini
2 cups julienned yellow squash
1 onion, chopped
1 eggplant, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
10 mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cups water

TO PREPARE:

Cut a circle around the stem of each pumpkin. Remove and reserve the circles to use as garnishes. Discard the seeds from the pumpkin shells. Remove the center of each bread loaf, leaving the crust; discard the crust. Crumble the bread into a bowl. Saute the carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms and garlic in the olive oil in a skillet until tender. Add the sauteed vegetables and vegetable stock to the bread and mix well. Stir in the salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Spoon into the pumpkins; drizzle with the lemon juice. Arrange the pumpkins in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour the water around the pumpkins. Bake, covered with foil, at 350 degrees for 25 to 40 minutes or until done to taste. Remove the pumpkins to a serving platter. Attach a pumpkin circle with stem to the side of each pumpkin for garnish.