Feast of Starlight

food inspired by our favorite stories

Friends: Sweet Potato Stuffed Pumpkin

by

Friends: Sweet Potato Stuffed Pumpkin

Friends: Sweet Potato Stuffed Pumpkin

 

Rachel: Oh, right. Sorry, but Tag’s not coming; his girlfriend came into town, so he’s spending Thanksgiving with her.

Monica: Oh! Why didn’t you tell me? I made him his own individual sweet potato stuffed pumpkin.

Rachel: Well, I was going to, but then I figured, you know… you’re food is so delicious and perfect, you can never have too many of those pumpkin things.

Friends, Season 7

I can’t think of Thanksgiving without thinking of the television show, Friends. Their Thanksgiving episodes were some of the most memorable episodes from their series and I remember watching them as a child with my siblings. I’ll have more Thanksgiving recipes from Friends coming up very soon but to start this series I have Monica’s sweet potato stuffed pumpkins from season 7. The most memorable part of the episode was the 50 states game they were playing. Rachel was able to get 48, Phoebe got tired of naming states and instead listed the types of celery, and Joey got 56.

These stuffed pumpkins are so adorable! They immediately add an autumnal look to the dinner table and it’s so simple to put together. You can make everything ahead of time to help save some time on Thanksgiving day. Just reheat the pumpkins in the oven until warm, and reheat the sweet potato over a bain marie until hot.

Friends: Sweet Potato Stuffed Pumpkin

Friends: Sweet Potato Stuffed Pumpkin

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Equipment:

  • Food processor

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound 6 oz / 4 medium – sweet potatoes, cleaned
  • 4 – small pumpkins (munchkins or similar)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 tbsp – unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp – maple syrup
  • 1 tsp – cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp – freshly grated nutmeg
  • 4oz / 1/2 cup – heavy cream

pecan crumble:

  • 1.5oz / 40g / 1/4 cup – all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp – brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp – salt
  • 1/4 tsp – cinnamon
  • 3 tbsp – unsalted butter, cold
  • 1/2 cup – pecans, chopped

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Prick the cleaned sweet potatoes with a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake for 45 minutes until cooked through. Let it cool before taking off the skin.
  2. Slice the top off the pumpkins with a very sharp knife.  I had to use a saw with some of the harder pumpkins. Just be very careful! Scoop out the center of the pumpkins and brush lightly with 2 tbsp of melted butter. Season with salt and roast it along with the pumpkin top in the oven at 400F for 15 minutes until fragrant.
  3. When the sweet potatoes are cooling, heat the cream and two tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan until hot. Place the peeled sweet potatoes in a food processor with the cinnamon, nutmeg, cream, butter, salt, and pepper. When you’re ready to serve, scoop or pipe the sweet potato into the prepared pumpkins or hold them over a warm water bath to keep warm.
  4. To make the pecan crumble, turn down the oven to 375F and combine all the ingredients in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until it forms a crumble like texture. Pour the crumble onto a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes at 375F or until golden brown. Top each of the pumpkins with crumble and serve warm.

Friends Sweet Potato Stuff Pumpkin Ori

Also on Feast of Starlight