Sunday Supper - Pumpkin Stew

Recipe photo

We have our Church's Fall Festival this afternoon so we enjoyed our Sunday Supper on Saturday this week.  I don't know about you but I LOVE making a big pot of homemade soup or stew when the temperature falls. It offers a hearty meal and then provides leftovers for me to nibble off for lunch throughout the week.  And since we woke up to a 27 degree morning yesterday, this stew was the perfect choice.

One of my college besties posted a picture of her pumpkin stew on Facebook a few weeks ago and I have been dying to try this idea out ever since.  This is the recipe I used and while it took four hours to cook, it was certainly worth the wait.  The only comment I would say is that we did find it a bit salty.  Since it calls for two beef bouillon cubes, I will probably just season the meat prior to browning and leave the two teaspoons of salt out next time.  But to each their own.  As a rule, I always follow the recipes to the letter the first time and then alter to taste until I have it just how I want it.

I will also say that if you don't like pumpkin (which come to find out, the hubby doesn't - whoops) don't let this recipe deter you.  It really just tastes like a beef stew.  You can scoop out some pumpkin, if you wish, as you serve the stew; but you certainly don't have to.  Another thing that shouldn't deter you is the time it took to make.  After you chop all the veggies, all you have to do is brown the meat, pour the veggies in and simmer for 2 hours.  Then you transfer the stew into the pumpkin and bake for another 2 hours.  Super simple and the house smelled amazing.

Simmering the stew

The final product

And even though I have an adorable pumpkin soup tureen, I just love the idea of serving the stew in a REAL, cooked pumpkin!  This will definitely be recycled for a Thanksgiving Eve meal.

Enjoy!

xoxo,
TSS