Stuffed Pumpkin

MistyCat82's Note:

I took this to work this week, and got rave reviews on it. People loved the fact that they were being served out of a pumpkin. Even though the recipe calls for a sugar pumpkin, I actually made a triple batch and filled a jack-o-lantern pumpkin for work because I needed something that would serve a lot of people. However, jack-o-lantern pumpkins are not very good for eating themselves so everybody just ate the filling, whereas you should actually scoop out part of the flesh of the sugar pumpkin with the stuffing. I originally got this recipe off of here, but went I started to review it, with my list of modifications, I realized that it had changed so much that it was a completely different recipe so I am posting my own version. Note: You can modify the spices to your tastes, and I use Smart Balance in place of butter.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 sugar pumpkin
• 2 baking apples , cored and chopped
• ½ cup pecan halves
• ½ cup craisins
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• 1⁄8; teaspoon clove
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon butter , melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Cut off the top of the pumpkin, and remove the seeds and strings.
3. Combine the apples, pecans, and craisins in a bowl.
4. In a separate bowl combine the brown sugar and spices.
5. In a third little bowl combine the vanilla and smart balance.
6. Drizzle the smart balance mixture over the apple mixture, and stir.
7. Add the brown sugar mixture to the apple mixture and toss until coated.
8. Fill the pumpkin with the apple mixture.
9. Bake the pumpkin in a shallow baking dish with the pumpkin top beside it for 1 1/2 hours, or until the pumpkin and apples are soft.
10. If you have extra apple filling, you can bake it in a small baking dish beside the pumpkin also.
11. You can either serve it warm or room temperature.