What do you do with a boatload of winter squashes and pumpkins that you bought to use as decoration? That’s the very question I was asking myself this morning. Because I have a PATHOLOGICAL aversion to wasting food, especially now that money is so tight. Seriously, I think I must have gone hungry in a former life because I can’t sleep when I know that the milk expires tomorrow morning AND THE JUG IS HALF FULL!!! Makes me want to wake up the whole house and force everyone to enjoy a delicious, icy cold glass of very-nearly-spoiled milk. YUM!

So about those pumpkins and squashes. First I poked each of them and determined which were likely to keep in the pantry the longest and which had to be dealt with. Then I roasted the squashes, scooped out the good stuff and froze it in gallon ziplock bags. I wanted to save the pumpkins for pies so I sliced three of them into wedges and roasted them as well.

I set aside the biggest pumpkin for tonight’s dinner and it was so lovely, so comfort-foody, so perfect for a rainy, depressing, day-after-Christmasy kind of a day, that I took pictures so I could share it with you. The recipe is from the new Gourmet Today Cookbook. (The one with the sticker on the cover that says, “A subscription to Gourmet Magazine is included with the purchase of this book.” It’s still a great book though.)  It’s called Roast Pumpkin with Cheese Fondue (page 632) and more perfect it could not be.

Take a pumpkin that’s around 7 pounds, wash it to get all the dirt off and then cut a smallish hole around the stem, jack o’latern style.

You now have the unpleasant task of scooping out the seeds and goo. I use a big metal spoon with a long handle to cut down getting sticky pumpkin guts on my hands. An ice cream scoop works well too.

If you are lucky, you’ll have someone in your house who loves roasted pumpkin seeds and is willing to pick through the goo to liberate the seeds. In my house, that person is Erin.

So now you have a scraped out pumpkin suitable for filling. Let’s fill it up, shall we?

You will need 1 cup of chicken stock or broth (please don’t tell anyone that I am using boxed broth- I haven’t had time to make my own since we moved) 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Combine with a whisk set aside for a minute.

In addition to the chicken stock/cream concoction, you will need one baguette, cut into half inch slices and lightly toasted, and 2 cups of grated cheese. I used half Gruyere and half white cheddar. The recipe actually called for Gruyere and Ementall but I had a ton of Irish cheddar in the fridge, so I used that.

Put a layer of bread in the bottom of the pumpkin, followed by a handful of cheese and a half cup of the stock/cream mixture and then repeat. You may not use all of the bread or cheese but you should definitely use all the stock/cream. Just pour any extra on top at the end.

Once your pumpkin is stuffed, popped the lid back on it and place it in an oiled roasting pan. Then brush the pumpkin with a little olive oil and pop it in a 450 degree oven for an hour and 15 minutes to hour and a half.

Here’s what it looks like when you take it out of the oven.

Hot and bubbly. Slightly browned.

Oh my goodness. Serve by scooping out some of the cooked pumpkin with the cheesy bread filling.

This dish is crazy good and just perfect for a cold and rainy weeknight. It would also make the most amazing Thanksgiving side dish. Grab a pumpkin before the season’s over and give it a try.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: A reader who tried this recipe nearly had a disaster when the stem of her pumpkin CAUGHT ON FIRE in the oven.  I strongly advise you to either pop the stem off your pumpkin before putting it in the oven or soaking the stem in a glass of water until it’s thoroughly wet. You could also try wrapping the stem in aluminum foil before baking.