1 small “sugar” pumpkin (seeds and “guts” removed)

1lb beef steaks

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp lard or olive oil

4-5 cloves garlic (minced)

12oz canned crushed tomatoes (with juice)

1 tbsp Italian seasoning blend (dried rosemary, parsley, basil, thyme, and oregano)

Sea salt and fresh black pepper  

Real Parmesan or Romano cheese

Preparation

Make your meat

In a large saucepan, heat lard or olive oil over medium heat.

Add cow meat and brown for a few minutes on each side. Pour crushed tomato over the beef and add garlic and Italian seasoning.

Turn the heat down to a simmer and cover (keep the lid cracked to allow steam to escape so the sauce will reduce).

The meat will need to cook for at least an hour, which works out perfectly considering that is exactly how long it takes to finish the next step.

Bake your pumpkin

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Rub the inside of your pumpkin with butter (or lard), put on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet, and put in the oven. Set the timer for 45min.

When the pumpkin is ready, it should be soft and giving, but not mushy.

Stuff

Remove the meat from the pan and cut into bite-sized pieces. Stuff the chunks of meat into the pumpkin.

Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper and then pour over the meat, filling the pumpkin right up to the top.

Add a few grates of fresh cheese.

Consume

With a fork and knife, you can then start slicing pieces of the pumpkin off, dipping them in the sauce, following with a chunk of meat, and continuing in this manner until the entire thing is comfortably relocated to your belly.