A unique Halloween dinner perfect for a year of unexpected surprises
Tales of the Dinner Belle
By Brenda Stanley
The phrase unprecedented has been used a lot lately, and with the holidays coming up quickly, many of us are wondering how they are going to look this year. Halloween is this week, so why not give your children an extra special dinner on what may not be their usual night of treats. My dinner in a pumpkin is not only a unique way to cook dinner but it’s also delicious. The savory and hearty casserole is baked inside and when you scoop it out, the mild and slightly sweet pumpkin becomes part of the dish. Make it extra special by carving a face on the pumpkin and watch it turn scary as it bakes. It will also fill up your little ghouls and boys with a good meal so they won’t want to eat quite as much candy- well, maybe.
Make Belle’s Spiced Pumpkin Seeds while you’re waiting for your dinner to cook!
Belle’s Dinner in a Pumpkin
1 (8-9 pound) pumpkin
2 teaspoons salt
1 onion, chopped
4 ribs of celery, sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound ground beef
1 pound mild Italian sausage
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 (15 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups cooked rice
1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
Cut a large circle around the stem of the pumpkin and remove. Clean out all the seeds and guts of the pumpkin and then sprinkle the inside walls with the salt. Set the pumpkin on a large rimmed baking sheet. In a large fry pan, brown the ground beef and Italian sausage. Drain and remove from the pan. In the same pan, heat the oil. Cook the onion and celery until tender. Add the beef mixture back in, along with the cooked rice and water chestnuts. In a bowl, combine the soup, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Add to the pan and mix everything well. Heat through and then scoop the mixture into the pumpkin. Replace the stem and then bake the pumpkin on the baking sheet at 400 degrees on the lower rack of the oven for about one hour or until the pumpkin can be easily pierced with a fork and the flesh is tender. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. To serve, scoop out the casserole along with scoops of the cooked pumpkin.
