The Saga of the 37 Pumpkins - Installment No. 8 - Pumpkin with Romano Cheese Casserole

In every life there are certain moments that define the turning over of one epoch to another. In some lives, perhaps many, that transformation is catalyzed by a death or a great tragedy. This was the case in the story of Jack's life. After Maxima's death, he became more popular in the community. Jack often called upon Maxima's grieving parents. While the distraught parents bawled upon his rind, Jack soothed them by elaborating upon the foulness of their elderly neighbor, and assured them that soon, the menace would be exterminated.

"Jack, my dear boy," Maxima's mother murmured, "Will you tell others about Cucurbita so that we can come together to defeat her?"

"But, darling," sniffled her husband, "We can't defeat another of our kind. We don't have weapons. I'm sorry."

"Oh, Hubert! There must be a way. Jack! Jack, you have an answer, don't you? You always have the answers!"

Jack stiffened and prepared to speak, but never did. 

And then there were 28...

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Pumpkin with Romano Cheese Casserole


Ingredients:

• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs 
• 1/4 cup Romano cheese
• salt and pepper
• 3 cups sugar pie pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine bread crumbs and cheese and set aside. 

Puree pumpkin in a food processor or blender. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then turn into a greased 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle top with bread crumb mixture and dot with butter.

Bake in oven approximately 15 to 20 minutes or until bread crumbs are brown.

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Keep in mind that this dish is savory and you may want to experiment with the seasonings to suit your liking. A little more cheese certainly wouldn't hurt. 

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart