Insider has published an article about Ghapama, a traditional Armenian recipe for stuffed pumpkin served on special holidays.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, author Carolina Gazal made her family's recipe for ghapama, which she says is surprisingly simple to make and always reminds her of family memories gathered around the dinner table.

Here's how Gazal recounts the process:

"The traditional Armenian dish can be customized in many ways, but I used a classic recipe calling for a pumpkin, nuts, dried fruit, and pantry staples. I started by washing my pumpkin, cutting a star into the center, and scraping out the seeds with a spoon. My spoon couldn't fit in the hole I carved because my pumpkin was so small, so I ended up creating a square shape to make this process easier After I scraped everything out of the pumpkin, I rinsed the remaining gunk out and patted it dry.

For the filling, I filled a saucepan with 3 cups of water and 1 ½ cups of rice. I stirred it all together and reduced the heat to a low setting and let it simmer for 15 minutes as I washed and cleaned my pumpkin seeds. It's crucial to not let the rice cook all the way through because it will be softened even more while it's inside the pumpkin. After the rice cooked for a bit, I mixed ¼ cup of cranberries, ¼ cup of dried apricots, and ¼ cup of pine nuts into a large bowl. You can also add in walnuts, plums, cherries, or any other dried fruit.

The rice becomes quite sweet later on, so if you prefer a nice crunch I'd recommend adding more nuts than fruits. I also added melted butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon, salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of honey. This smelled delicious and filled my entire kitchen with a warm, fragrant aroma. I loosely spooned the rice into the pumpkin, making sure to leave some room for ¼ cup of hot water.

Now that the pumpkin was filled, I placed the stem back on top of the rice and set my oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. I also adjusted my oven rack so the pumpkin had plenty of space. I cooked it on a foil-lined pan for an hour, checking on it every so often as I cleaned pumpkin seeds from my kitchen floor. The hot dish smelled like rice, cinnamon, and sweet apricots. After it cooled for 10 minutes, I couldn't resist trying the rice.

I was surprised that I could taste the honey and cinnamon flavors. It balanced out the crunchy pine nuts and savory rice. For serving, I moved it to a larger bowl and cut the pumpkin into wedges to let the rice and fruits fall through.