From My Personal Grimorie: Baked, Stuffed Pumpkin

An unusual recipe I discovered a few years back. The venison or spicy sausage really compliments the pumpkin. You slice a piece of pumpkin and get some of the filling, and it's wonderfully satisfying. You can add a small bag of mixed vegetables to the stuffing before baking, too.

Ingredients

• 4 ounce(s) sage sausage, or ground venison
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped onion
• 1  (1 1/2-pound ) pumpkin, peeled, seeded, or 4 small individual serving size pumpkins
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped  apples
• 1 cup(s) rice or couscous, cooked
• 1/4 cup(s) dried cranberries
• 1 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon(s) fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon(s) fresh oregano, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) fresh ground pepper
• Chopped, sauteed onion and a clove of garlic

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Directions

1. Make the stuffing: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. De-case and crumble the sausage meat or crumble the ground meat and place it in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook the sausage until it is almost done -- . Remove the sausage from the pan, increase heat to medium, and add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the onion begins to soften -- 5 to 7 minutes. Add the chopped apple and sausage and sauté for 3 minutes. . Combine the rice  or couscous, dried cranberries, olive oil, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add meat mixture to the bowl and toss to combine.
2.  Bake the pumpkins: Evenly fill the hollowed-out pumpkins with the stuffing mixture and place the pumpkins in a shallow baking dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, bake until the pumpkin (s) are soft but not mushy. Serve immediately.