Here is my all-time favorite thing to do with a worthy pumpkin. This is the memorable recipe you’ve been waiting for to make for your Thanksgiving guests, fall weekend guests, beloved kids home on break, book group, or your family just because. Believe me, it makes an impression! Thanks go to Molly Katzen, noted author of Moosewood Cookbook, who first introduced me to the idea of cooking inside a pumpkin many, many years ago.

• 5-lb. pumpkin, with attractive stem
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 1 /2 t. kosher salt
• 1 large yellow onion, finely minced
• 1/2 tsp. yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 cups rye bread, cubed
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground sage
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup Swiss (or cheddar) cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup chickpeas, cooked (canned is fine)
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut a 4″ lid from top of pumpkin and set aside. Remove seeds and strings. [Leave at least 20-30 min. for this step, and save the seeds for roasting if you’d like. Don’t hesitate to do it the night before, or assign job to a willing assistant.] Rub inside of pumpkin and lid with 1 tbsp. oil, season lightly with salt, and place on baking pan with raised rim.

To make croutons, heat 3 T. olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering and fragrant. Add bread cubes and cook several minutes, shaking, until slightly browned with crunchy edges. Don’t leave the stove, and don’t stop shaking — this happens fast. Set aside.

Warm stock in a saucepan until its fragrance begins to rise. Stir in mustard until completely dissolved.

Inside the pumpkin place the cheese, chickpeas, onion, and 2/3 of the croutons. Add nutmeg, cayenne, sage, salt and pepper. Fill pumpkin with stock almost to the top. Add bay leaves and replace lid.

Bake approx 90 min until pumpkin is browning on outside, flesh yields to fork, and stock is bubbling. Carefully transfer pumpkin to a serving platter (or decorate the baking pan with pine branches) and bring to table. Serve with a long-handled spoon, scooping deeply into bottom and sides to get pumpkin flesh in each serving. Garnish with remaining homemade croutons (or roasted pumpkin seeds!).

Enjoy the fall, the leaves, the pumpkins!