Ingredients 1 (with meat)

One butternut or buttercup pumpkin (about 1.5-2kg); 200g of slow-cooked and finely chopped goat meat (or beef or lamb or chicken), 1 cup of coarse bulgur (or rice, soaked in water for an hour); 1 onion; 4 tbsp of olive oil; 1 tbsp of tomato paste; 1 tsp of salt; 1/2 tsp of black pepper, 1/4 tsp of cumin; 1/4 tsp of allspice; 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.

Ingredients 2 (without meat)

One butternut or buttercup pumpkin (about 1.5-2kg); 2 large onions; 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1 cups of coarse bulgur (or rice, soaked in water for an hour); 1 tbs of tomato paste; 3 tbsp of currants; 1/4 cup of pinenuts; 1/4 cup of parsley; 1/4 cup of dill; 1 tbs of mint; 1 tbs of basil; 2 tsp of paprika; 1 tsp of black pepper; 1.5 tsp of salt; pomegranate molasses and lemon juice (optional); and 2 cups of boiling water (or 1 cup of boiling water and 1 cup of fresh tomato sauce); if available 1/4 cup of half cooked and diced chestnuts (optional); 1/4 of finely chopped dry apricot and date (optional).

Preparation and Cooking

• Cut off the top of the pumpkin to create a lid and scoop out the seeds and fibrous material inside the entire pumpkin using a spoon but leaving the harder shell section.
• Prepare of the choice of ingredients given above following the instructions given previously under stuffed and wrapped dishes.
• Fill the hollow pumpkin with the stuffing mixture and replace the lid of the pumpkin.
• Bake the pumpkin in the wood fired oven at around 150-180°C for about 1-2 hours or until the skin of the pumpkin is gently burnt.
• When the pumpkin is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for only few minutes before serving. You may cut it into slices or serve the stuffing separately, but it is recommended to serve directly from the pumpkin by scooping out a mixture of flesh and the cooked fillings.

Hints and Comments

• This dish can be considered as a one-pot cooking without a real clay pot and without clay pot preparation and dish washing.
• Note that due to the size of the pumpkin selected and the thickness of flesh, an accurate measure of the stuffed ingredients may vary.
• This dish can be highly flavoursome and diverse since the final dish combines the smokey pumpkin and the selected range of ingredients. If a butternut pumpkin is selected, the cooked flesh becomes tender and offers a slightly sweet and buttery flavour, similar to sweet potatoes or caramelized roasted carrots. However, when buttercup pumpkin is used, its taste may be described as a richer and more intense sweetness and also offer a hint of nuttiness, akin to roasted chestnuts.
• A teacup of molasses can also added to the recipe for additional flavour.
• Note that there is a Thanks Giving version of a stuffed pumpkin in US, which can also be cooked in the wood fired oven to enhance and introduce different flavours.