Meat Stuffed Sugar Pumpkins Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the soup, mushrooms, soy sauce and brown sugar. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rice and water chestnuts. , Wash pumpkin; cut a 6-in. circle around stem. Remove top and set aside. Discard seeds and loose fibers from the inside. Spoon beef mixture into pumpkin; replace top. , Place in a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Rub oil over outside of pumpkin. Bake, uncovered, until pumpkin is tender, 1-1/2 hours. Scoop out some pumpkin with each serving of beef mixture.

Steps:

• Wash pumpkin; cut a 6-in. circle around top stem. Remove top and set aside; discard seeds and loose fibers from inside. Place pumpkin in a large Dutch oven. Fill with boiling water to a depth of 6 in.; add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is almost tender but holds its shape. Carefully remove and drain well; pat dry. , In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain well. Cool slightly; place in a large bowl. Add rice, tomato sauce, ham, eggs, garlic, oregano, pepper, vinegar and remaining salt. , Place pumpkin in a shallow sturdy baking pan. Firmly pack beef mixture into pumpkin; replace top. Leaving pan uncovered, bake at 350° for 1 hour. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove the top; if desired, use paper towel to remove excess moisture from top of meat. Slice pumpkin into wedges.

Steps:

• Wash each pumpkin. Cut top 1/4 off each pumpkin; remove and discard seeds and fibers. Cut the tops of the pumpkins into small cubes, trimming off and discarding the pumpkin skin from each cube. Mince the pumpkin cubes in a food processor until pumpkin meat is finely ground.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In large skillet, saute meat until no pink remains. Add onion and celery and cook 5 minutes longer. Stir in minced pumpkin, rice, tomatoes, eggs, salt, basil and thyme.
• Place pumpkins in roasting pan. Pack stuffing into pumpkins. Extra stuffing that overflows can be placed at the base of the pumpkins, in the pan.
• Place a piece of aluminum foil over top and crimp it over the sides of the pan.
• Bake 45 minutes or until pumpkins are just tender. Watch carefully at end of roasting time so pumpkins don't overcook.

Steps:

• Thoroughly clean the outside of the pumpkin. Cut off top of pumpkin to make a lid. Remove the seeds and scrape out any stringy pulp. Combine stuffing ingredients and mix well in a bowl. Fill the pumpkin with the stuffing. (Be sure to leave some space at top.) Cover with lid, and bake on an oiled cookie sheet for 50 minutes at 400 degrees. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until the stuffing sets. (The stuffing is set when a fork is inserted in the center and comes out clean.)
• Cut the pumpkin into eight sections and serve the wedges topped with either cranberry sauce or gravy