Cheesy Bread Pumpkin

[tielan]

In February and March I had a big vine of baby pumpkins growing up a tree, with quite a few pumpkins hanging off it:



Luckily, I've had this Cheesy Bread Pumpkin recipe in my sights ever since I started trying to grow small pumpkins suitable for single eating...

Cheesy Bread Pumpkin at Broma Bakery

Ingredients
1 large baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices
3 2-pound OR 1 6-pound pumpkin
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups coarsely grated Gruyère
2 cups coarsely grated Emmental
1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions
Preheat oven to 450°F.

Place baguette slices on a large baking tray and toast for 5-7 minutes, until slightly crispy. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Cut a large circle around the stem of the pumpkin(s) to create a lid. Remove pumpkin seeds and innards. Season inside of pumpkin with 1/2 tsp salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together cream, milk, chicken/vegetable broth, nutmeg, thyme, salt, and black pepper. In a separate bowl, combine grated cheeses.

Place a layer of toasted bread in bottom of pumpkins, then cover with about 3/4 cup cheese and about 1/2 cup cream mixture. Continue layering bread, cheese, and cream mixture until pumpkin is filled to about 1/2 inch from top. If you have any cream mixture left over, pour it on top.

Place top back on pumpkins and brush the entire outside of the pumpkins with olive oil. Bake for an hour and a half, until the pumpkins are slightly soft to the top and filling puffs up slightly.

To serve, cut pumpkins in half or quarters and top with more fresh thyme!

--



Notes and Adjustments and Opinion
I never have the specific cheeses that they suggest in these recipes, so I usually just replace with Australian Tasty Cheese ("Tasty" is the type of cheese, like "Emmental" or "Camembert" or "Pepper Jack" - it's a kind of cheddar, I think), and whatever else happens to be in the cheese drawer at the time that will provide the necessary meltiness, cheesiness, or required flavour to the dish. I think this time it was the Tasty cheese, some leftover truffle brie, and a bocconcini ball.

Whatever.

I may have overstuffed the pumpkin (note the burn stains where it overflowed) but it was superb hot deliciousness on a chilly, wet March evening.

I will absolutely be making this again.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

does Tasty cheese come in a can? In Jamaica we had a Tasty cheese that came in a can. I wonder if it's a Commonwealth thing.

[tielan]

OH LORD NO.

Cheese in a block.

[minoanmiss]

It does look tasty!

[tielan]

Sorry, I just re-read my comment and may have come off slightly offensive in my reaction to cheese in a can.

Cheese in a can is not a thing in Australia (I have a feeling that one would get kicked out for being unAustralian, we have so much beef and dairy industry in this country), so my associations with it are from the US - something about string cheese? Cue all the jokes about 'fake cheese', 'plastic cheese' and 'American cheese' that we make - which is punching up if it's in reference to white America's addiction to cheap and overprocessed food, but not so much when one factors in affordable and available options in both the food deserts of the US and in other countries.

Sorry!

[minoanmiss]

Oh no I do not mean THAT cheese in a can. Pressurized spray cheese, no, eeek.

the cheese in Jamaica comes in a proper squat can that needs a can opener to open, and it's a very dense cheddar-type cheese. I think it may be in a can to preserve it in the tropical heat.

[minoanmiss]

ahahaha we both just savaged Cheese in a Can. blushes obviously, no apology needed. :)

[spiralicious]

This sounds so good.

[stellar_dust]

This sounds AMAZING.