Stuffed Pumpkins

Details

Impress your guests with the flavor and presentation of this dish from The Eat-Clean Diet® Cookbook. The savory mix of pumpkin, venison and wild rice will have them wanting more. Plus, they’ll be impressed when the dish is served in their very own pumpkin!

Ingredients

• 1 x 4-5 lb / 2 kg sugar pumpkin or 6 small sugar pumpkins
• 2 tsp / 10 ml sea salt
• 1 tsp / 5 ml dry mustard
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1½ lbs / 672 g lean ground venison or bison
• 7 green onions, trimmed and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press
• 1½ cups / 360 ml cooked wild rice
• 4 egg whites + 1 yolk, beaten
• 1 tsp / 5 ml dried sage, crumbled
• ½ tsp / 2.5 ml freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C.
2. Cut the top from pumpkin(s) and remove seeds and strings. Prick the inside flesh with a fork. In a small bowl, mix sea salt and dry mustard. Rub the interior of the pumpkin with this mixture. Set pumpkin aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add ground meat, onion and garlic. Saute over medium-high heat until meat is browned. Remove from heat. Drain excess oil. Add cooked wild rice, eggs, sage and pepper. Mix well with clean hands. Stuff each pumpkin with meat-rice mixture.
4. Place pumpkin(s) in a shallow baking dish or lasagna pan. Add water until half of the baking dish is full.
5. Bake until pumpkin is tender, 1 to 1½ hours. If using individual pumpkins, cooking time may be shorter. If using a large pumpkin, cooking time may be longer. When serving a large pumpkin, cut it into six wedges and serve. When serving individual pumpkins, place on individual serving plates.