The Rally To Consume Pumpkin

(aka: Pumpkin Dinner)

Starters & Sides

Pumpkin Seeds

We always save and de-goop our pumpkin seeds. Recently, we harvested over 7 pounds of seeds from the pumpkins we carved. During Pumpkin Dinner prep, I usually end up cutting up at least 4 pumpkins (those ghost pumpkins have a lot of seeds) and roasting seeds as a warmup snack.

Approx 1 pint of pumpkin seeds, rinsed and de-gooped.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Put some parchment paper on top of that (keeps the seeds from sticking). Spritz a little oil down and spread the seeds into one even layer. Top with the good flavors. Mix up with your hands. Place in oven. Slow: 250F for hours and hours. Speedy: 375F for minutes (watch closely).

Pumpkin Sauce

Serves 6-10

Mix & chill.

Cranberry Pumpkin Rolls

Don't cook these too long... they are nice and soft. I prefer to use Craisins over cranberries... mo' bettah sweeter.

Approximately 16 rolls

(Sure, you can do this whole thing in a bread machine. But not all of us have, or like to use bread machines, so here are the hand-made instructions.)

Combine dry ingredients (except yeast and cranberries). Mix together. Add puree, maple syrup, butter, yeast and egg. Knead until smooth (approx 5-10 minutes). Add more flour or water as necessary to form smooth soft dough ball. Add cranberries and knead a little more. Place in a metal bowl and cover with a towel. Allow dough to rise one hour.

Remove dough from bowl, punch down and lightly knead (<5 min.). Place back in bowl and allow to rise another 30 minutes to 1 hour. Divide dough into fist-sized pieces and place on a greased baking sheet. Brush with butter and allow to rise another 30 minutes. Lightly brush with butter and place in 400°F oven for 20-30 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Salad #37

Makes as much as you want. If you toast those pumpkin seeds in olive oil, they end up combining with the feta and making their own dressing. The shredded pumpkin looks like carrots but tastes so much better. Pumpkin oil can be tricky to find.

Makes enough for 8 people as a starter

Main Dishes & Soups

Gingered Carrot & Pumpkin Soup

Slightly spicy, but supremely tasty and filling. This is great for a winter night. For added effect, serve in small bowls made from baby pumpkins.

Makes 6-8 servings (double that if served as a side)

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan, on medium high heat. Add onion and ginger and sauté until onion is translucent (5-10 minutes). Add chicken stock, sliced carrots and pumpkin puree. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender (about 30-45 minutes). Working in batches, puree mixture. Finally, mix in orange juice and half & half and cook over low heat for an additional 5 minutes. Mix in ground cinnamon, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Choose Your Own Pumpkin Permutation

2-3 kinds of pumpkin, 2 kinds of sauce. I find that the Ghost Pumpkins are the sweetest and most flavorful. I will also cut up the fairy tale pumpkins and the normal pumpkins to show off the variety of flavor and texture. Be sure not to overcook the pumpkin... you want the cubes soft and firm, not mushy.

5 pounds of pumpkin will serve 6-8 people.

Skin and seed pumpkin and cut into 1-2" cubes. Arrange pumpkin in a 13x9 baking pan and cover with aluminum foil. Puncture the aluminum foil to let steam out and bake 45-90 minutes or microwave for 10-15 minutes (depending on size of cubes) until tender with a fork. Remove cover and let the liquid steam off (or pour it off).

Yogurt Dill Sauce (for cubed pumpkin)

This one is everybody's favorite, although it can be made year-round using any stiff squash — acorn, butternut, kabocha. This dish is an Afghani dish.

6-8 servings (Enough sauce for 5 lbs of pumpkin)

Place pumpkin in a pyrex dish and microwave for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile combine dill, yogurt and spices in food processor and blend. Adjust salt to taste. Chill sauce in separate container. Serve by portioning out pumpkin and topping with sauce. Keep the sauce separate for storage, as it does not reheat well.

Molasses Cream Sauce (for cubed pumpkin)

I just made this one up in 2010. This recipe also works with Sorghum. It's simple... it's basic... and it is tasty.

6-8 servings (Enough sauce for 5 lbs of pumpkin)

Follow the basic white-sauce method. Melt butter on low, whisk in flour and turn up heat to medium. Cook the roux to remove the raw flour taste (2-3 minutes) but not enough to brown. In the meantime, mix together molasses, milk and apple cider vinegar and heat in microwave until just shy of boiling. Remove roux from heat and let the bubbling stop. Whisk in hot molasses mixture until incorporated (return to heat on low to thicken if need be). Stir in salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cayenne to taste. The sauce should be creamy but not too sweet.

Slow Cooked Pork or Chicken with Pumpkin-Seed Sauce

The Slow Cooker method is derived from the original recipe. I like the original recipe better, because the sauce is tastier when it's fresh (vs. slow-cooked). Both preparation options are given below.

Makes 4 servings

Marinate the meat: Place tamarind pulp and 1 cup warm water in small bowl. Let stand until tamarind is soft/dissolved, about 1 hour. Strain tamarind mixture into medium bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much pulp as possible. Discard solids. Place pork in bowl with liquid. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Build the sauce: Stir pumpkin seeds in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat until beginning to pop, about 5 minutes. Cool. Transfer to processor and blend until ground. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add tomatillos, onion, jalapeno, and garlic. Sauté until onion is beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup chicken stock. Reduce heat to medium; cover and simmer until tomatillos are soft, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly. Puree half of tomatillo mixture with lettuce in blender until smooth. Pour into large bowl. Add remaining tomatillo mixture to blender and puree until smooth. Add ground pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and almonds to puree in blender and process just until blended. Mix into tomatillo-lettuce puree in bowl.

Original method (grill): Prepare barbecue (medium high heat). Preheat oven to 400F. Remove pork from marinade. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill pork until dark brown, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Transfer pork to small rimmed baking sheet. Roast in oven until cooked through, about 20 minutes for medium. Let rest 5 minutes. Top with sauce and serve.

Slow Cooker method: Drain the marinade off of the meat and brown the outside in a large saucepan. Place meat and sauce in a slow cooker on low for many hours. Adjust the seasoning as needed.

Curried Pumpkin Cous Cous with Currants and Roasted Vegetables

New in 2010 — this dish is a wonderful main dish or side. Roasting the vegetables separately to dry them out really adds flavor. I added lime leaves to my curry for a nice bit of brightness.

Serves 8-10

Dice the onion. Chop the zucchini and pumpkin into small cubes. Preheat oven to 400F. Brush zucchini and pumpkin with oil and roast on a baking sheet for 25 minutes until golden brown (turning as necessary). Allow to cool.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté onions to soften. Mix in curry powder and 4-10 lime leaves and stir for 1 minute. Add 3 cups of water, bring to a simmer and reduce to low. Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and stir in cous cous until slightly toasted (3 minutes). Mix in hot curry water and turn off heat and let stand until liquid is absorbed (10 minutes). Fluff with fork. Mix in currants, zucchini, pumpkin. Season with salt and pepper.

Pumpkin Filled Ravioli

This is the ALL STAR and a true favorite. However, this recipe takes a LOT of work. Plan several hours for rolling out your own pasta and filling it (6 hours = 300 ravioli... I'm slow). Use a pasta roller, for sure. For piping the filling, I use a ziploc bag with a small corner snipped off. I find that sealing the pasta with an egg-wash and folding and hand-twisting (into little Brach's candy-like shapes) is the quickest method.

Serves 8-10 (about 50-80 large ravioli)

Make the filling: Place pumpkin, eggs, parmesan, cookies, bread crumbs, chutney, salt and nutmeg into a large bowl and mix.

Make the pasta: Mix up the dough in your stand mixer and let rest for at least an hour. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Pass it through your pasta roller on progressively thinner settings, adding flour as needed to keep from sticking. Get the dough paper thin — keep rolling. Move the long rolled sheet to your work surface and cover to keep moist.

Assemble: Make an egg wash with 1 egg and 1/4 cup+ of water, whisked. Arrange the pumpkin mixture in tiny portions (1/2") at equal intervals on a sheet of pasta. Brush egg wash around the edges. Option 1: Roll the sheet in half lengthwise to cover, cut into pieces and hand-twist ends. Option 2: Place second sheet on top, press down around each pocket to seal, and use a ravioli roller to cut. Allow to dry at room temperature for 1 hour.

To cook: Drop the ravioli into a deep saucepan of salted boiling water and cook for 6-8 minutes until done. Serve immediately.

Sweet & Sour Sauce for Pumpkin Ravioli

This is the secret sauce that took forever to reverse engineer. Treat it with respect... it's a little tart, but full of sweetness and flavor. NOTE: a little goes a long way — use sparingly so that the flavor of the ravioli comes through.

Make a slurry with cornstarch and some water. Throw it all in a sauce pot and heat it up. It doesn't take much to coat a whole lot of pasta. You might wish to alter the ginger/cinnamon to your liking. The coconut milk really adds body to the entire sauce. Heat the mixture up until bubbly. Turn down the heat and simmer until thick and syrupy (15-30 min).

Desserts & Drinks

Banana Pumpkin Bread

Makes 3 loaves

Puree bananas and pumpkin, add eggs and sugar, mix well. Add oil. Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves mixing until just blended. Pour into 3 greased loaf pans. Bake in a 350F oven for 50-60+ minutes (internal temp of 195F and comes out clean).

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Recipe coming soon....

Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

Coldstone Creamery has locations in this area. Forget the standard pumpkin pie and get their "Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie". With the cinnamon frosting, it's super tasty and doesn't have any cake-stuff to get in the way.

Drinks

Every year around October, your local Beverages and More will have Pumpkin Ale. You just have to look for it. However, we find that the Spiced Pumpkin Beer (found at Whole Foods) to be much tastier.

Pumpkin punch can also be made if you scoop out a large pumpkin and fill it with all sorts of yummy liquids (alcohol or not). Throw in some dry ice, and you have the centerpiece of the refreshment table.