Stuffed Pumpkins

I made Stuffed Pumpkins again for lunch today to go with a turkey breast, mashed potatoes and fresh brussel sprouts. THIS TIME I remembered to take pictures! I posted the recipe 2 posts ago but added a couple things today, including some fresh cranberries I picked up at market yesterday and actually liked the stuffing even better.

STUFFED PUMPKINS

• 10 mini pumpkins, washed, topped, gutted and rinsed
• 1 lb. sage pork sausage
• 1 box wild rice, prepared according to box
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 apple, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3/4 c. fresh cranberries, boiled until popped and tender then roughly chopped
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp. celery salt
• 1/4 c. apple cider

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay pumpkins and their tops on a cookie sheet and brush with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes or until fork tender.

Brown sausage and set aside. In same pan, saute apples and onions until onions are translucent and apples are tender. Add brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, celery salt and cider to apples and onions and return sausage to pan. Add 1/2 to 3/4 of the prepared rice and mix together. Stuff pumpkins and place pumpkin tops back on. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

NOTE: This would be a great Thanksgiving Day recipe. All the ingredients can be prepared in advance, refrigerated and reheated. I baked my pumpkin shells last night and then made the stuffing while I was getting the rest of lunch ready. The leftover stuffed pumpkins also reheat very well in the microwave.

Baking the shells...

Stuffing pre-cranberries...

Boiling the fresh cranberries until they pop and are tender...

Voilá!

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