Apple and Sausage Stuffed Pumpkin

Ingredients

• 2 small pumpkins about 6 inches wide, (sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Apple Sausage Filling:

• 1 small onion finely diced
• 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 pound hot Italian sausage crumbled
• 5 oz fresh spinach
• 2 large apples cored and diced into small cubes
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup pecans toasted
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
• fresh thyme

Directions

Roast the Pumpkin:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Remove the outside stem and slice each pumpkin in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Brush the inside and cut sides of the 4 pumpkin halves with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the pumpkin halves cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 30-40 minutes on the lowest rack or until the pumpkin is soft and easily pierced with a fork from the outside.

Make the Apple-Sausage Filling:

1. While the pumpkin roasts, prepare the filling.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the crumbled sausage, chopped onion, and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, breaking up the sausage, until the sausage is fully cooked and the onions are softened.
3. Add the diced apples and the spinach and cook for several minutes until the spinach wilts. Stir in dried cranberries.

Stuff the Pumpkin:

1. Once the pumpkin is roasted, remove it from the oven and turn the halves cut side up.
2. Stuff each pumpkin half with the apple-sausage mixture, then top with toasted pecans and, if desired, parmesan cheese and more dried cranberries. Finish with a sprinkle of fresh thyme.
3. If needed, reheat the stuffed pumpkins on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in the oven for about 10 or 15 minutes.