Ingredients
- 1 5-6 pound pumpkin (I used a ghost pumpkin)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- .75 pound spicy Italian Sausage, casing removed
- 1 large yellow onion, small diced
- 8 ounces crimini mushrooms, small diced
- 1 tablespoon sage, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 4 cups kale, rough chopped ( I used curly kale)
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopepd
- 1/4 cup dried sour cherries
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Cut the top off of the pumpkin and scrape out the “guts” and seeds. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt on the inside and set aside.
In a heavy pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the sausage. Cook over medium high heat, breaking the sausage up as you cook it. Cook until the sausage is browned and cooked all the way through, 5-7 minutes, then transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Add the onion and mushrooms to the pan and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes. add the sage and cook another minute. Add the white wine and deglaze the pan, cooking until the liquid has been absorbed. Transfer to the bowl with the sausage and set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and then heat over high heat. Add the kale and gently toss and cook until barely wilted and still bright green- about 2 minutes. Transfer to a separate bowl and set aside. Season to taste with kosher salt.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil and add the rice. stir to coat the rice and then add the chicken stock. Cover with a lid or a sheet of foil and cook over low heat about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the fresh sage, walnuts and sour cherries to the sausage/mushroom/onion mix.
When the rice is finished, stir the sausage mixture into the rice and season to taste with kosher salt. gently mix in the kale.
Place the Pumpkin in that same heavy pan you have been cooking in.
Stuff the pumpkin with the the rice/sausage/kale mixture.
Put the lid on the pumpkin and place in the oven. Cook at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, and then lower to 350 degrees for 15-20 more minutes.
Serve hot by either scooping out the filling along with part of the pumpkin walls, or slice pieces of the pumpkin and add stuffing to the top of the piece of pumpkin.
