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Dinner in a Pumpkin
Nov. 5th, 2012 07:21 pmWhen I went out to a local farm seeking an "autumn fix" I soaked up the happy harvesty atmosphere and also came home with a jack-o-lantern type pumpkin (which we dutifully carved) and 2 sugar pie pumpkins. One sugar pumpkin is for pie, but the other was for a favorite autumn-time easy dinner we do, to wit:
Dinner in a Pumpkin
1 4-5 lb. pumpkin
1 lb. ground beef
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 c. uncooked instant rice
3 T. butter or margarine
1/2 t. salt (optional)
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. thyme
1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)
2 c. beef broth
1/2 c. grated cheddar (optional)
Wash the pumpkin and cut a nice wide lid on the top (you want to be able to scoop yummy things out later). Scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Brush the inside of the pumpkin with the butter and sprinkle it with a little salt if you like.
In a skillet, saute the beef and onion until browned. Drain fat. Add the rice and remaining ingredients except the cheese. Put your pumpkin in a shallow dish (I use a casserole dish) and fill it with the meat mixture. Put the lid on the pumpkin and stick the whole thing in a 350 degree oven. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until the pumpkin is tender. You can add more broth if needed. Take off lid and sprinkle with cheese while hot.
Serve right from the pumpkin, scooping out pulp with the beef mixture.
For lower sodium people like me, just use no-salt tomatoes and unsalted beef broth and reduce or even eliminate the table salt too. Still very tasty and homelike. This is the only time of year I buy instant rice, just for this, and sometimes use dried minced onion instead of fresh, though fresh is always better if you have one handy.
Enjoy!
Dinner in a Pumpkin
1 4-5 lb. pumpkin
1 lb. ground beef
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 c. uncooked instant rice
3 T. butter or margarine
1/2 t. salt (optional)
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. thyme
1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)
2 c. beef broth
1/2 c. grated cheddar (optional)
Wash the pumpkin and cut a nice wide lid on the top (you want to be able to scoop yummy things out later). Scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Brush the inside of the pumpkin with the butter and sprinkle it with a little salt if you like.
In a skillet, saute the beef and onion until browned. Drain fat. Add the rice and remaining ingredients except the cheese. Put your pumpkin in a shallow dish (I use a casserole dish) and fill it with the meat mixture. Put the lid on the pumpkin and stick the whole thing in a 350 degree oven. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until the pumpkin is tender. You can add more broth if needed. Take off lid and sprinkle with cheese while hot.
Serve right from the pumpkin, scooping out pulp with the beef mixture.
For lower sodium people like me, just use no-salt tomatoes and unsalted beef broth and reduce or even eliminate the table salt too. Still very tasty and homelike. This is the only time of year I buy instant rice, just for this, and sometimes use dried minced onion instead of fresh, though fresh is always better if you have one handy.
Enjoy!
