Well this turned out to be a hit. I need to come up with an appetizer quickly and this was basically created by what was available in my pizza refrigerator.
Shopping List:
- 16 ounce whole milk ricotta
- 16 ounce fresh mozzarella
- 8 ounce burrata
- wedge of parmesan
- 8 ounce Sartori Tuscan Blend cheese ( Fontina is a good substitute)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoon Penzeys Fox Point seasoning
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
- small cooking pumpkin
Instructions
Pre heat oven to 350* Cut the top of the pumpkin with a large chefs knife. Clean and scoop out the seeds with a large spoon. If you need to make the opening on top larger, using a smaller knife cut more of the flesh out all around the opening.
In a medium size bowl place the ricotta that has been drained, cut the fresh mozzarella in small cubes, cut the burrata in medium size chunks, with a microplane grate 1 cup of parmesan. Place all the cheeses in the bowl, including the Tuscan blend, with a large spoon stir together. Sprinkle the seasonings and parsley. Give a good stir. Fill the pumpkin with the cheese blend. Using your microplane grate some more fresh parmesan on top. Place on a foiled lined sheet pan.
Bake at 350* for 30 – 40 minutes. I pulled my pumpkin out at 30 minutes, it was staring to get golden and bubbly on top, but when I place a thermometer down further into the cheese in the pumpkin, it was not as hot at the bottom, so I cooked 10 more minutes so a total of 40 minutes.
I had left over cheese mix, so depending on the size of your pumpkin you might be able to cut the recipe in half. I will just plan on using mine to make a dip for a happy hour. The first time I prepared this was in a oven proof crock and not a pumpkin.
Serve with toasted ciabatta, flatbread, crostini what ever you might like. The cheese is really gooey and delish, it so reminds me of Italy when you see someone serving some up and the cheese strings from the pumpkin to their bread.