Last week was American Thanksgiving, "Big Feast" as Little Bit excitedly calls it, and we had people over for dinner. We made rather a big batch of cornbread stuffing, knowing there would be leftovers, which is always a good thing. Five days into eating said leftovers though, I figured I'd jazz it up a bit. This is inspired by one of my mother-in-law's dishes but made my own.
Ingredients:
1/2 small pumpkin, sliced
2 onions, sliced
4 tbsp butter
1 c milk
1/2 - 3/4 c mushrooms
4 carrots, grated
about 3 c cheese, grated
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1 1/2 tsp - 2 tsp sumac
1 tsp dried orange peel
3 1/2 c stuffing
3 tbsp carrot top pesto
1 1/2 tbsp cranberry sauce
Salt and pepper
1) Melt 1 tbsp butter in a deep frying pan, and sauté the onions and pumpkin. add about 1 c water and stew for 10 minutes until beginning to go tender.
2) Add the carrots, mushrooms, milk, herbs and spices and all but about 1 c of the cheese. Cook on medium heat until combined and beginning to reduce, about another 10 minutes.
3) Melt the remaining butter and mix with the stuffing. Spread about half the stuffing on the bottom of an oven-proof dish. spoon the pesto over the top. Layer the pumpkin mix over that, and then cranberry sauce. Mix the remaining cheese with the rest of the stuffing and place it on top in the casserole dish.
4) Bake at 180°C for about a half-hour, uncovered for the first 20-25 minutes, then uncovered until the top is crispy.
This came out beautifully, but is definitely better on the first night (odd, given how many dishes improve with a little time). In future, I will try to bear this in mind and make only the required amount. Hubby and Little One both loved it too, and despite post-Thanksgiving resolutions, we all had seconds. It was good served up with a little extra cranberry sauce or mustard, but it was a very moist dish and so didn't need it in the least.
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