Dinner in a Pumpkin
Wild rice, mushrooms, and other savory ingredients are covered in a creamy sauce and baked in a pumpkin for a festive fall dinner.
Servings 5 servings
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized pumpkin (any kind will work, I prefer a sugar pie pumpkin for flavor)
Filling ingredients
- 4 cups cooked brown rice or wild rice blend
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 TBSP soy sauce (or alternative like tamari or liquid aminos)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Sauce ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews or sunflower seeds
- 1 cup plant milk
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp vegetable bouillon base (or soy sauce)
- 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (or a pinch of marjoram, sage and thyme)
Instructions
- 1. Cook rice if you haven't already. I used 1.5 cups of brown rice and 1/2 cup wild rice, cooked in 6 cups of water for about 45 minutes.
- 2. Line a baking sheet with foil. Carve the pumpkin by cutting a lid, and scooping out seeds and pumpkin guts. Salt and pepper the inside of the pumpkin. Set onto the baking sheet.
- 3. Make sauce by combining all igredients into a high powered blender or bullet. If you don't have a good blender, soak cashews or sunflower seeds in hot water for at least 15 minutes first. It should be a smooth sauce. Taste and add salt to taste, if desired.
- 4. Preheat oven to 375. Chop all the vegetables finely. Saute onions, carrots, and celery together until fragrant and sweating. Add mushrooms, soy sauce, parsley, thyme and dried cranberries. Stir in cooked rice and sauce.
- 5. Put the rice mixture into the hallowed-out pumpkin. If it doesn't all fit, you can put the rest in a baking dish and cook separately. Put the lid of the pumpkin back on, and bake for 60 minutes. Pierce with a fork, and if it's not soft, bake another 15-20 minutes until soft. The size of the pumpkin determines how long it takes to bake.
- 6. Serve by scooping out the mixture and scraping the side of the pumpkin to eat some pumpkin with it--the best part!
