Turn the page of the calendar to October and soon pumpkins are everywhere. As Halloween gets closer, there are large displays at every grocery store and pumpkin patches sprawl in church parking lots and school courtyards.
Bright orange pumpkins bursting with personality and just waiting to be turned into Halloween décor are hard to resist. My problem with those pumpkins? I always wanted more. Not content with a pumpkin for seasonal décor, I wanted to be able to cook my pumpkin. After all, it’s a fruit, is it not?
Have you ever tried to cook one of those Jack O’Lantern pumpkins? You could bake it for hours and you’d never get the smooth dense puree you need for recipes or soups. That’s simply not what they’re bred for.
Pumpkins for cooking and eating are easy to find at our many local farmers markets. Talk to the folks selling them, they will know which are best for sweet or savory dishes. They may have some recipes to share too.
But what about those of you who don’t have the time or inclination to visit a farmers market but still want to cook with pumpkin?
If you don’t shop at a local farmers market, pie pumpkins are pretty widely available at grocery stores these days. This is the pumpkin you want to cook with, and with its diminutive size, it makes charming fall décor while waiting to be turned into dinner.
These recipes offer two different ways to prepare fresh pumpkin – steamed in the microwave or baked. Your choice of method can depend on convenience, or whether you want the roasted flavor that comes from baking. If you don’t want to tackle a fresh pumpkin, you can substitute canned puree in either the soup or quiche. A 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree contains about 1 3/4 cups, and the 29-ounce can of pumpkin puree is about 3 1/2 cups. The larger size is about the equivalent of the cooked flesh in a 2 to 3-pound pie pumpkin.
Puree of Pumpkin Soup
Hands on: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Makes: 8 cups
1 small pie pumpkin, 2 to 3 pounds
6 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
2 small shallots, finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup cream sherry
1 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a roasting pan with parchment paper.
Split pumpkin in half and scrape out seeds and fibers. Place pumpkin halves flesh side down in prepared roasting pan. Pour in 1/2 cup water and bake 30 minutes or until skin is deeply browned and flesh is very tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Scoop out flesh, discarding skin. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, cook bacon pieces until deeply browned and crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove browned bacon, drain and set aside. In fat remaining in pot, sauté onion, shallots and garlic over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, nutmeg and pumpkin flesh. Stir well and sauté 5 minutes longer. Add stock, bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes.
Remove bay leaf and puree soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Bring soup back to a simmer and add sherry and cream. Simmer gently 5 minutes or until heated through. Taste for seasoning. Serve garnished with reserved bacon pieces.
Adapted from “The Gift of Southern Cooking” by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock (Alfred A. Knopf, $29.95)
Per 1-cup serving: 194 calories (percent of calories from fat, 62), 9 grams protein, 12 grams carbohydrates, 1 grams fiber, 15 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 45 milligrams cholesterol, 642 milligrams sodium.
Caribbean Rice and Pumpkin Pilaf
Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 8
1 small pie pumpkin, 2 to 3 pounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 hot pepper, minced
2 cups brown rice
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
1 1/2 cups water, divided
Salt and pepper
Split pumpkin in half and scrape out seeds and fibers. Place pumpkin halves flesh side down in a microwave-proof dish. Cook on high heat for 10 minutes or until flesh is just becoming tender. Remove from microwave and allow to cool. Peel off and discard skin; dice pumpkin into 1-inch pieces.
While pumpkin is cooling, in a large saucepan, heat olive oil until hot. Add onions, garlic, bell pepper and hot pepper and sauté 5 minutes or until vegetables just begin to lose their translucency. Add rice and stir until rice grains are coated with oil, about 2 minutes. Add allspice and nutmeg and stir in coconut milk and 1 cup water. Cover pot and cook rice 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Add additional 1/2 water if rice needs more liquid as it is cooking. When rice is tender, stir in pumpkin pieces and taste for seasoning.
Per serving: 277 calories (percent of calories from fat, 23), 6 grams protein, 49 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 7 grams fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 17 milligrams sodium.
Pumpkin-Gruyére Quiche
Hands on: 10 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Serves: 8
This quiche looks very much like a pumpkin pie when it’s baked, and truth to tell, you could add a little sugar, eliminate the cheese and pepper and end up with something very much like a pumpkin pie. I like the chunks of Gruyére here, but you can grate the cheese if you prefer. If you don’t have a 10-inch tart pan, bake the quiche in a deep dish pie pan. If you have more filling that your pie pan can accommodate, bake the extra filling separately.
1 10-inch unbaked pie crust
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
3/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups diced Gruyére (about 1/2 pound)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 10-inch removable-bottom tart pan with pie crust. Set tart pan in rimmed cookie sheet and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, milk, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Distribute Gruyére cubes evenly on the bottom of prepared tart pan. Carefully pour pumpkin filling over the cheese. Bake 20 minutes, then lower heat to 325 and bake 15 minutes more or until filling is set. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Per serving: 332 calories (percent of calories from fat, 63), 15 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 23 grams fat (11 grams saturated), 158 milligrams cholesterol, 430 milligrams sodium.
