Mini Stuffed Pumpkins

Overflowing with flavour, these mini stuffed Baby Boo pumpkins make an elegant little presentation. Some of you may recall I posted DIY pumpkin placemarkers a few days back. Once they did their placemarking duties for Canadian Thanksgiving they turned into these cute side dishes! (See the placemarker how-to link at the end of this post)

Ingredients:

9 mini pumpkins (these Baby Boos are about 4 oz each)

olive oil

salt and pepper

Rice and Veg Filling:

2 tbsps olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 cup diced mushrooms

2 tbsps minced garlic

1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary

1 tsp dry thyme

1/2 tsp dry sage or savory

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups rice (1/2 brown, 1/2 white)

2 3/4 cups broth

1 cup chopped nuts and seeds (walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Begin by slicing off the tops of the pumpkins as though you were going to make teenie tiny jack-o-lanterns. Some were quite easy to cut while the more squat squash were pretty hard! Scoop the seeds and stringy stuff out (save the seeds for next year's garden) and brush on olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper inside and out.

Replace the tops and bake on a lined cooking sheet in a 400°F oven for anywhere from 35-55 minutes or until tender. A knife should easily pierce the skin.

Now for the rice... this recipe makes more than what you'll need for the pumpkins which is OK because it's delicious and you'll want to serve it again later in the week!

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add the onion, celery and carrot (classic mirepoix) cooking for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook 2 minutes, then add the garlic and seasonings. Finally add the rice and stir together then pour in your choice of broth. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes until rice is tender. Remove from heat and add the nut mixture (whatever combo you like to make 1 cup) and the dried cranberries.

Fill each little pumpkin with the rice mixture and top them with their caps.

Return them to the 400°F oven for 15-20 minutes. The skin is edible so you can eat the whole thing, but some may just want to scoop the veg inside along with the rice mixture.

Really wish I had a black plate to show these off on!

Adapted from: domesticgothess.com

DIY Pumpkin Placemarkers:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2021/10/diy-pumpkin-placemarkers.html