The stuffed pumpkin is an easy-to-prepare autumn dish that is rich in flavor and scenic, with a very delicious filling. Pumpkin is confirmed as one of the most versatile ingredients that autumn gives us. Indeed, we use it to dress pasta, prepare gnocchi, make creamy risottos and soups and velvety soups, make cutlets and other types of main courses, and even for desserts, it is a great ingredient that helps us create cookies, cakes, bundt cakes, and tiny pumpkins. Besides all these recipes, how could we not try to make it stuffed? Of course, we thought it was time to try filling our pumpkin! Just get a good pumpkin, bake it in the oven, and then stuff it with whatever we like, in our case ricotta, mushrooms, and mozzarella. Then we quickly gratinate it in the oven, and it’s ready!
The preparation is very simple: cut a pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, and brush it with oil and various spices and herbs. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes and fill it with a cream obtained by mixing ricotta with sautéed mushrooms. Sprinkle each pumpkin with grated mozzarella and bake again for another 10 minutes.
A rich dish, excellent as a main course or a single dish in autumn, all you have to do is get all the ingredients to prepare the stuffed pumpkin as soon as possible!
Also discover:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Thanksgiving
Ingredients to Prepare the Stuffed Pumpkin
- 1 pumpkin (Butternut or violina)
- 10.5 oz champignon mushrooms
- 8.8 oz ricotta
- 7 oz mozzarella for pizza
- dried oregano
- ground turmeric
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- chopped parsley
- salt
- pepper
Tools to Prepare the Stuffed Pumpkin
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- 1 Oven
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 Plate
- 1 Brush
- 1 Frying Pan
- 1 Stovetop
- 1 Spoon
Steps to Prepare the Stuffed Pumpkin
Prepare the stuffed pumpkin with mushrooms by cutting the pumpkin in half and removing the seeds with a spoon.
Score the top with a knife by making diagonal cuts.
In a small bowl, mix the oil with salt, pepper, oregano, and turmeric, and spread it on both halves of the pumpkin, brushing well with a kitchen brush. Bake the pumpkin in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 30-40 minutes. Cooking time may vary depending on the size of the pumpkin.
Clean the mushrooms by removing the earthy base and brushing them to remove any soil residues. Slice them.
Sauté the chopped garlic in a pan with oil and add the mushrooms. Cook them over high heat for 10-15 minutes until tender. Let them cool slightly.
In a plate, mash the ricotta with a fork and add the mushrooms. If the ricotta is too dry, you can add a splash of milk. Mix the ingredients together.
Remove the pumpkin from the oven and mash the pumpkin flesh with a spoon.
Distribute the mushroom and ricotta filling over the two pumpkin halves.
Add grated mozzarella and put back in the oven for another ten minutes until the top is well gratinated.
Remove the stuffed pumpkin from the oven and serve it garnished with grated parsley.
Simo and Cicci Recommend
You can store the stuffed pumpkin in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days.
We used a fairly large butternut squash, but you can use smaller pumpkins or four small delica or Hokkaido pumpkins. In this case, you will need to cut off the top part of the pumpkin, hollow it out, bake it in the oven, and then fill it as per the recipe.
For the filling, you can add or substitute ingredients, for example, you can use other vegetables like spinach or legumes like lentils and chickpeas, enrich with cooked ham or speck, or use grains like pasta or rice.
