Cassoulet Stuffed Pumpkin
A delicious tasting Halloween-themed dinner. French white bean and sausage stew cooked inside a pumpkin. To give your guests that authentic Halloween scare, cut the pumpkin open tableside and watch all the insides become outsides.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 med. Pumpkin make sure to buy one that says "pie" pumpkin or use a large butercup squash
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup sliced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- ½ cup diced carrot
- ½ cup diced celery
- 1 Roma tomat, diced
- 1 cup white kidney beans, soaked and boiled or just use canned ones.
- ½ cup ham, diced
- ½ cup summer sausage, diced or another smoked or cured sausage or salami
- 6 links of breakfast sausage don't use maple or apple breakfast sausages.
- 1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat you're oven to 350°f
- Cook the sausages in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Cut the top off the pumpkin like you would when making a jack-o-lantern. Then scrape and scoop out all the seeds and loose bits.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the olive oil, then the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. Cook the vegetables for about 4 minutes or until the onions start to soften.
- Add the diced ham and summer sausage, along with the diced tomatoes and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the thyme, a pinch of pepper, and the white wine. Cook until the wine has almost all evaporated.
- Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
- Add in the cooked sausages and white beans. Bring the pan back to a boil.
- Put the pumpkin into a high-sided casserole dish and spoon the meat and bean mixture into it. Put the lid on the pumpkin and bake in the oven for 1 ½ hours or until the pumpkin is soft to the touch but not falling apart.
- Serve the stew directly out of the pumpkin, then cut the pumpkin and serve slices along with the stew. Or for a more Holloween themed presentation, cut the pumpkin open at the table and let all the sausages and beans and everything come pouring out. Make sure do to this in a casserole dish so as not to make a big mess.