Finally, a stuffed pumpkin for you!

So on Halloween each year I make a stuffed pumpkin for dinner. This year we tried a new recipe and were really not all that impressed with how it turned out. Usually I use rice and meat with veggies for the filling, this recipe called for meat and stuffing with heavy cream. It had a really nice flavor but was just way too heavy for dinner. Sadly, the leftovers never made it in our bellies but in the trash can.

Oh well, it was pretty!

Overstuffed Pumpkin with Cornbread, Apples, and Turkey Sausage with Sauvignon Blanc

1 pumpkin
1/4 cup melted butter (I just used some olive oil)
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used Pam)
1 onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage, divided
Salt and pepper
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cubed
2 pounds ground turkey sausage (I used a lb. of meatloaf mixture meat)
3/4 cup Sauvignon Blanc wine (I used Sherry)
1 cup heavy cream
1 (16-ounce) package cornbread stuffing ( I used regular stuffing)
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Cut off the lid of the pumpkin and set it aside.

Pull out the seeds and strings from inside the pumpkin. Brush the inside flesh with melted butter, season with salt and pepper.

Place pumpkin on a roasting pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat oil over moderate heat. Add onion, celery, garlic, celery seed, fennel seed and 2 tablespoons each parsley and sage. Cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the apples and cook 2 minutes. Add the ground sausage, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, and brown until no longer pink, about 10 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with wine, cook down 2 minutes to evaporate the alcohol. Stir in the cream, check seasoning. Scrape the sausage mixture into a large bowl and fold in the cornbread.

Gradually blend in the eggs and chicken broth, until the stuffing is evenly moistened. Add remaining parsley and sage. Fill the pumpkin with stuffing, return to the oven and bake 20 minutes until the eggs are cooked and the stuffing has a little lift. Serve stuffing in the pumpkin bowl topped with lid