Roasted Rice Stuffed Sugar Pumpkins

Ingredients

• 2 2 to 3-pound sugar pumpkins
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon Riceland Rice Bran Oil or canola oil
• ½ pound mild Italian sausage
• 1 ½ cups chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 cups Riceland Plump and Tender Medium-Grain Rice
• ¼ cup chopped dried apples
• ¼ cup chopped dried apricots
• ¾ cup dried cranberries (not Cranraisins)
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• Kosher salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Chopped flat-leaf parsley as garnish

Preparation

1. Cut off the top of the pumpkins about 1-inch below the top, leaving stem in place; clean and set aside.
2. Remove seeds and fibrous flesh from inside the  pumpkins; sprinkle  inside of each pumpkin with salt, pepper and ½ teaspoon granulated garlic  Wrap the bottoms of the pumpkins 2 – 3 inches  with heavy-duty aluminum foil and set in a large baking dish.
3. In a very large skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the oil and sauté the Italian sausage until the pink is mostly gone; add in onion, rubbed sage, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger, allspice and turmeric. Sauté until the onion is tender and sausage is cooked through.
4. Stir in rice, apple, apricots and cranberries. Stir until the rice is coated and glossy.
5. Pour in stock, cover and reduce heat to lowest setting. Cook 15 minutes.  Adjust seasonings.
6. Bring a kettle of water to boiling while the rice cooks.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. Spoon rice mixture into pumpkin cavities; press tops firmly on pumpkins (They will probably sit above stuffing an inch or so.).
9. Pour about an inch of boiling water into the baking pan.
10. Bake pumpkins until tender when pierced with a toothpick or knife, about 1 ½ hours. Set aside tops during the final 20 minutes of baking so tops of stuffing will brown slightly.
11. To serve, remove pumpkins from baking pan and let rest 10 – 15 minutes before slicing.
12. Place whole on a serving platter or slice into 4 equal segments and place on each plate, mounding rice stuffing on top. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.
    
    by The Women Bloggers/Riceland Blogger Debbie Arnold of DiningWithDebbie.net