Stuffed Pumpkin with Meat

But once you have scraped out the pumpkin and gathered up all the runaway seeds, it is easy from there. Washed and salted on the inside, it stands ready and waits to be filled. The meat and the potatoes must be cooked beforehand, before they go into the pumpkin. At least until half-done. Fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms in a little oil. Add the meat and, once it has browned a bit, deglaze it with both white and red wine. Leave it so the moisture evaporates a little and add all the spices. Transfer the meat into the pumpkin, put the lid back on and wrap it in aluminium foil. From here on the oven does all the work. 3 hours at 180 degrees, then remove the foil so it browns for a nice look and leave it another 40 minutes. In that time the pumpkin has simply melted with pleasure in the oven, as they say - only the skin holds it together so it does not fall apart. If, however, you have some champion pumpkin that weighs 4-5 kilograms and holds as much pork again, double the roasting time. If you have not thought of it - it is good to consider in what vessel you will bake it, so that you can then serve it. I put mine in a Jena pot, but a wider one. If you want to cut and serve slices - you need more room to manoeuvre. And during baking a little sauce forms inside, which would go to waste and might also spoil your tablecloth for guests. The other way is simply to dig into this splendour and not fuss too much with cutting and transferring to plates. As I think about it now, this would be wonderful to cook for the holidays. Actually, do not wait for an occasion or a holiday. True, the big Christmas tables are coming up, but make a trial or two before then.