Who Knew? Bacon Bits, Take Two.

Who knew that those cute little pumpkins that I have always used as fall table decorations were edible?  I learned that from a blog friend, KatieZ, who was making all kinds of lovely dishes with them a couple of weeks ago. 

So, when my Hallowe'en table gave way to a Thanksgiving decoration, I cut open two of them, scooped out the seeds, and roasted the bottoms and their lids alongside the kabocha squash I talked about in my last post.

They keep their shape and their distinctive orange color, even while the oven softens them to velvet. I stuffed them with a rice stuffing I made quickly with chopped, sautéed shallots and mushrooms added to some leftover brown rice and another rasher's worth of bacon bits. Quickly stuffed, I slid them into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes to heat them through. Next time, I will add some thyme or perhaps rosemary to the rice mixture, but they were quite tasty as they were.

Not only did they look adorable on the plate, they were quite filling. In fact, they would almost make a whole meatless meal if you were looking for such.  We enjoyed them alongside some slices of grilled chicken breast and came away from the table quite full.

Tiny Pumpkins Stuffed with Rice

2 tiny pumpkins, tops sliced off, seeded, and roasted until tender in a 350 degree oven
About 1 cup brown rice, cooked
1 rasher bacon, cooked and finely chopped
5-6 crimini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 large shallot, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil

In a wide pan, sauté mushrooms in the olive oil until browned, then add shallot and cook until softened. Add rice and bacon bits, and mix thoroughly. Stuff rice mixture firmly into the pumpkins, cover with pumpkin lids (some rice will fall out), and bake for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.