Hidatsa Stuffed Sugar Pumpkin   from “Spirit of the Harvest”  by Cox and Jacobs

1, 4-5 pound sugar pumpkin
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil or rendered fat
1 lb. ground venison, bison or beef
1 med. onion
1 cup wild rice, cooked
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp crushed dried sage
1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 deg. cut the top from pumpkin and remove seeds and
strings. prick cavity with a fork, and rub with 1 tsp of salt and all of the dry mustard.
Heat oil in a large skillet, add meat and onion and sauté over med-high heat
until browned. remove from heat, and add cooked wild rice, beaten eggs and
the remaining salt, sage and pepper.  Stuff the pumpkin with this mixture.

Place 1/2 inch of water in a shallow baking pan. place pumpkin in the pan and
bake for about 1.5 hours or until pumpkin is tender. Add water to the pan as
necessary to avoid sticking. Cut pumpkin into wedges, serving both pumpkin
and filling.

twists i tried:
I used a “pie” pumpkin instead of “sugar” pumpkin.
I used ground turkey.
I used brown rice instead of wild rice

I might try stuffing a large acorn squash, and use “pulled” turkey breast meat instead of ground turkey. i’d also like to find wild rice!