pumpkin stuffed with everything good

This comes from Dorie Greenspan's, Around My French Table , and it's the perfect sort of thing to make right now while all of those post-Halloween pumpkins are on sale. You basically cut the top off of a small pumpkin (jack-o'-lantern style), scoop out the innards, and stuff it with a mixture of bread, cheese, bacon, herbs and heavy cream. I served this with a simple roast chicken to make a lovely little Sunday supper. Dorie stresses these quantities are guidelines, and depend fully on the size of your pumpkin. I used a 3 lb pumpkin and it was just right.

Stuffed Pumpkin

1 pumpkin, about 3 pounds
   salt & pepper
1/4 pound (4oz) stale bread, cut or torn into small pieces
1/4 pound (4oz) cheese, such as Gruyere, cheddar or any combination, cut into small chunks
2-4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 strips of bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scallions
1 Tablespoon minced fresh thyme
about 1/3 cup heavy cream
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and center your racks so that your pumpkin will fit nicely, without the stem touching the top of the oven. You can bake this on a parchment lined baking sheet, or place in a pot or pie plate that's slightly larger in diameter than your pumpkin. I used a 9-inch pie plate.
      Using a very sharp knife, cut the top off the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and strings, and season the inside liberally with salt and pepper.
     Toss the bread, cheese, garlic, bacon and herbs together in a bowl. Season with pepper and pack the filling into the pumpkin. At this point, the pumpkin should be well filled. Stir together the cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper and pour over filling.
     Put the cap back in place and bake for about 2 hours, though you may want to check after 90 minutes. Mine took the full 2 hours. You want the filling to be bubbling and the pumpkin to be tender when pierced with a knife. Dorie suggests removing the cap during the last 20 minutes so the top of the stuffing can brown a bit.
     I suppose there are two ways to serve this. You can cut slices (the prettiest) or scoop it right out, mixing some pumpkin in with the stuffing (the yummiest).