This recipe has the best of everything - cheesy crunchy gratin topping, creamy mustard & garlic sauce, AND bacon!!!! Yep - it's got the lot - you wouldn't even guess it was based around a vegetable. The pumpkin brings such a sweet flavour to the dish, and contrasts really well with the savoury notes from the sage, garlic & parmesan.
I enjoyed it that much that I had it for lunch today, after I photographed it. Yes - again - anyone who has been reading my posts for a while will be getting the point by now that I like to eat what I cook. Lucky for my waistline that I like to cook & photograph in the morning so I can eat my creations for lunch, or I would be having four meals a day instead of three.
On the subject of taking & editing photos, this is a skill I am still learning...at the moment it is just me and my iphone trying to capture decent photos which do the recipes justice & makes you guys want to try them.
Please bear with me, like all things blogging it is a very steep learning curve. I'd like to think I'm improving though - but some photos are still better than others. Lucky for me I'm a better cook than photographer! ? ?
Please enjoy my Crunchy Pumpkin Gratin with Bacon,
Lee-Ann ♥
Suggested Mains/Accompaniments:
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Table of Contents
📖 Recipe

Crunchy Pumpkin Gratin with Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 kg butternut pumpkin see my notes
- 1 tsp finely chopped fresh sage
- 2 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 300 ml pure cream
- pinch fine salt
- 20 g grated parmesan
- ⅓ cup day old bread crumbs (I used sourdough)
- 2 bacon rashers roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190℃.
- Slice pumpkin into 1 cm (⅓") slices, discarding skin and seeds - see notes for my handy tips for easy peeling.
- Arrange pumpkin slices in a baking dish, overlapping slightly to create ridges for the crumble to sit on (see notes).1 kg butternut pumpkin
- Combine fresh sage, mustards, garlic and salt in a medium jug and mix, then add 1-2 tablespoon of cream to mustard mixture, stirring to combine, then add remaining cream and mix well.300 ml pure cream1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage2 teaspoon wholegrain mustard1 teaspoon dijon mustard3 garlic clovespinch fine salt
- Pour cream mixture over pumpkin in prepared baking dish, pouring to coat from the top down on each slice of pumpkin - cover with aluminium foil and bake for 40 mins.
- Meanwhile, to make the crumble - place the bacon, breadcrumbs and parmesan in a small bowl, mix well to combine.⅓ cup day old bread crumbs2 bacon rashers20 g grated parmesan
- Remove pumpkin from oven, carefully lift off foil (steam will escape) and using a small spoon, ladle over some of the excess cream mixture to coat the pumpkin.
- Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the pumpkin slices, particularly on the ridges or steps between the slices and any high spots.
- Bake for 15 mins uncovered and serve immediately.
Notes
- Place one pumpkin half, cut side down (with skin still on) on the kitchen bench with the long side facing you. Using a sharp knife cut 1 cm / ⅓ inch slices working from right to left (I'm right handed!) Once you have your slices cut, use a vegetable peeler to peel off the skin from each individual slice. Then I just use a knife to cut around any seeds that need removing.
- I buy butternut pumpkin that is already pre-cut in half - I just buy 2 halves. The amount of pumpkin that I have specified in the recipe (1 kg) is before I peel & slice it - once it's peeled & sliced it weighs about 800 g.
- I like to arrange the pumpkin slices upright, but leaning over - see my photos - this gives you lots of ridges & high spots to put your crumble. This way you get plenty of crunch to the topping but still get a creamy sauce too.
- When you arrange the slices in the dish it's a bit of a jigsaw, I cut the slices that had seeds (so are now a "c" shape) in half or thirds if large and fit them into any vacant spaces.
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This is not a poorly designed recipe, but I just don't like the combination of flavors. The bitterness of the sage, sweetness of the squash, and saltiness and meatiness of the cheese and bacon don't work together - there's just too much going on.
Thanks for letting me know Mariah, I’m always happy to receive feedback! L x