Meal in a Pumpkin

"A fun main dish to serve at fall and harvest parties." Recipe submitted by Julee.

Recipe Ingredients:

Medium sized pumpkin (4 pounds)
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms
1 (10.75-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups cooked rice
Black olives
Steamed carrot
Whole cloves
Fresh parsley

Cooking Directions:

1. Using a sharp knife, cut lid from pumpkin and scoop out pumpkin seeds and excess membrane with a scraping tool.
2. In a large skillet, combine ground beef, green pepper, celery and onion; cook over medium heat until ground beef is browned. Add next seven ingredients to skillet. Mix well and place mixture into pumpkin cavity.
3. Place lid on pumpkin. Place pumpkin on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Just before serving, embellish pumpkin by placing (with toothpicks) black olives to make eyes, a steamed carrot to make a nose and whole cloves to make a mouth. Use fresh parsley leaves to make hair around the opening.
5. To serve, scoop out part of the baked pumpkin, along with the meat mixture, onto each plate.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.