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Swiss Pumpkin (Serves 4)

Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Fall
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Author Kristen | Ella Claire & Co.

Ingredients

  • 2 small pumpkins about 6 – 8 inches in diameter
  • Sliced French bread; several pieces toasted
  • Grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese about 4 oz
  • Half and half about 2 cups
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 t. salt 1 t. pepper
  • 1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg makes all the difference

Instructions

  1. First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top off of your pumpkin leaving the stem intact. With a spoon, scrape out the innards of the pumpkin and discard. (You can reserve the seeds if you like for a latter use.)
  2. Next, rinse the pumpkin both inside and out and pat dry. Place a layer of your toasted bread on the very bottom of the pumpkin cavity. If you need to break up your toasted bread to fit, that is fine. You just want a light layer; you do not need to pack it in. Over the top of your bread sprinkle a bit of your cheese; just enough to cover the bread. You will want to repeat this until you fill the cavity of the pumpkin to its rim, about 2-3 times.
  3. Then, pour the half and half mixture over the layered bread and cheese and into the pumpkin cavity. I like to do this slowly to be sure the half and half is filling in the crevices and not ready to overflow the pumpkin filling. Place the pumpkin top you cut off back onto the pumpkin and place on a baking sheet.
  4. Finally, place the pumpkin on the baking sheet into the center of your oven for about 2 hours. Your baking time will depend on the size of your pumpkin and how much you fill it, so I always check it after one and a half hours of baking. You want to bake it until a knife can easily pierce through the flesh of your pumpkin. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and wait about 15 minutes before serving.

Recipe Notes

**Slightly altered from Ruth Reichl’s original recipe.