Mom's Stuffed Pumpkin

If you can't tell by my Monday posts, Sunday is usually family day for the Good Eatah clan. In the past few months, the table has only been set for four people since my beloved sister, bro-in-law and niece moved to the mid-west. Come Thanksgiving though, we'll have a table set for thirteen which I'm really looking forward to. The A-man and his family will be coming down, my aunt and uncle will be in attendance and my sister, bro-in-law and niece are coming for a whole week! My mother is an amazing cook (or a "good cooker" as I used to call her when I was little) and always puts together an amazing spread and is now trying really hard to make her signature dishes gluten-free.

My sister, father and I are gluten-free and we all really love stuffing -- my mom's stuffing made with milk (gluten) crackers to be exact. We attempted to make hers with some gf crackers last year and there was something missing. Just yesterday however, my mom made an amazingly delicious wild rice stuffing that rivals her milk cracker stuffing. I couldn't get enough of it. She was kind enough to share with me her recipe and it's quite simple. I hope this makes an appearance for this year's Thanksgiving feast.

Mom's Wild Rice Stuffing in a Roasted Pumpkin (gluten-free, dairy-free)

serves 4 for dinner

1 sugar pumpkin with a hole cut on top and scooped of seeds

1 lb gluten-free breakfast sausage (if sausage is in a casing, remove casing and discard)
1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped
3 large celery stalks, chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice blend (or just mix half brown rice/half wild rice)
2 eggs. whisked (optional)
1-2 teaspoons of Bell Seasonings
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a pan on medium heat, cook the sausage for a few minutes until lightly brown. Add the onion and cook with the sausage for another five minutes. Add the celery and cook another few minutes. Then, add the rice, two eggs and Bell Seasonings and salt and pepper to taste. Stuff in the pumpkin and place in a water bath in a casserole dish. Bake for one hour.

To serve simply scoop pumpkin with stuffing, or cut the pumpkin into slices and serve with stuffing on top.

And Henry wasn't sitting still long enough to take a picture of him with the food -- so Grandma gets to be in the shot again. She had never seen anyone stuff a pumpkin with stuffing and referred to it as "interesting" but still managed to gobble it up.