One of the things I took away from yesterday’s post is that some of you would like to know how to make a Pumpkin Casserole. Since I aim to please, here you go! I don’t know if I’ll be making this recipe again, as I found it a little watery when heated (the pic below is pre-heated, meaning BEFORE I heated it.) And yes, I know the recipe name is supposed to be “Scalloped,” but I stole the recipe from Cooking Light, October 1997, so I wanted to be up-front about that by renaming it. Feel free to scalp this recipe for yourself, and let me know how it goes!

6 cups cubed peeled fresh pumpkin (2 pounds) (This is really hard to do. There’s a reason most recipes call for canned pumpkin. Chopping fresh pumpkin is HARD and NO FUN. It took me about 45 minutes to fully cube a football-sized pumpkin squash.)
Cooking Spray (FYI, I used Pam.)
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion (Neat trick! If you light a candle while cutting onions, it helps with the crying. I used a super-potent white onion this time.)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour, because it’s what I had on hand. It may have led to my eventual wateriness issue.)
2 cups low-salt chicken broth (Being a vegetarian and all, I used vegetable stock. It may have also led to the wateriness issue.)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I keep my salt in the fridge because the steam from cooking and summer in general made it clump. Does anyone know why I shouldn’t do this?)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (After I added this, I remembered that I don’t really like nutmeg. Just this little bit leads to a big nutmegy taste, so if you want it to taste more pumpkin piey, I’d recommend using ginger, allspice, or cinnamon.)
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (I have nothing to say about this.)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese, divided (The only part of this recipe that resembles anything “light” is the reduced fat cheese. I find reduced-fat ANYTHING morally reprehensible, and I hate to pay for someone to shred cheese for me, so I got a block of real Swiss and shredded it myself.)
1 (10-oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry (I used fresh spinach, which may have also lead to my wateriness issue. I just couldn’t stand to wait for the thawing, the draining, and the drying.)

Directions:
img_1601.JPGPreheat oven to 375

Cube pumpkin to bite-sized pieces, cook in boiling water for 8 minutes or until tender. Drain; set aside.

Place a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat; add onion, and saute 7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove onion from skillet, and set aside. (I forgot to take the onions out before moving on to the next step. I had to remove them with a slotted spoon. It could be the reason the casserole was too watery, but I doubt it.)

Add flour to skillet. Gradually add broth, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat or until thick and bubbly (about 6 minutes), stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in salt, nutmeg, and pepper.

Combine pumpkin, onion, 1/4 cup cheese, and spinach in a bowl. Spoon pumpkin mixture into a 6-cup gratin dish (I don’t actually know what a gratin dish is. I just used this one that my mom got me for Christmas) coated with cooking spray. Pour sauce over pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over gratin. Bake at 375 degrees (I don’t know how to make the little circle for “degrees” so I have to type out the whole word) for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

MMMMMM…. Yummy, watery dinner. Even better the second day!