So, it’s the day after Halloween, and if you’re contemplating devouring the family Jack o’Lantern, I heartily suggest just tossing it instead and starting over with a different pumpkin. Although it’s a noble gesture to try to eat it, the large “field” varieties are usually watery, flavorless and not sweet — generally a big disappointment. Not to mention the fact that it has been carved up and manhandled, exposed to air for who knows how long and probably has had a sooty candle burning in it.
If you have a hankering to cook a pumpkin, try to get a sugar or cheese pumpkin. The sugar pumpkins are the one to two-pound round orange squash and cheese pumpkins are sort of flattened, the color of butternut squash, and resemble a big wheel of cheese. There are some other varieties with intense flavor and silky texture, but you’ll be safe sticking with these two. You can also use a butternut squash — I’ve often heard that canned pumpkin is really canned butternut squash.
Cheese Pumpkins
Sugar Pumpkins
Other Edible Squash
Pumpkin is a fabulous fall vegetable and pretty versatile. When added to soups, stews, risottos and pasta, it offers a fat-free creaminess. It’s actually used a lot in low-fat baking for this attribute. It also carries flavors well — the first set of seasonings that come to most people’s minds are the classic pumpkin pie spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and mace, but it is also great with heartier herbs and spices like sage, rosemary, garlic, and red pepper. It also works will with southwestern flavors of cumin, coriander, Mexican oregano and cayenne, as well as Southeast Asian flavors of sugar, coconut milk, ginger, lime and lemongrass.
I always have a bunch of pumpkins and squashes around my house in the fall — I just think they’re so beautiful that I can’t resist them. In fact, my everyday keychain is an enamel pumpkin and my computer password (which is getting changed today!) is pumpkin. I have to eat them pretty often to make room for new ones. Some of my uses in October were the Hot-and-Sour Pumpkin Soup from our site (I didn't have galangal so I substituted extra ginger and I also generously garnished with Thai basil and cilantro which was crucial). I also pureed a bunch and froze it (by the way, a microwave works brilliantly for this), and my favorite preparation was Parmesan Pumpkin, from The Silver Spoon. I substituted freshly smoked mozzarella for the plain and used a roasted tomato sauce from my freezer instead of fresh tomatoes. Yum!!!
Parmesan Pumpkin
Zucca Alla Parmigiana
Serves 6
5 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 shallots, chopped
14 ounces tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 pound 5 ounces pumpkin flesh, sliced
All-purpose flour, for dusting
2 fresh thyme sprigs, chopped
14 ounces mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Salt and Pepper
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a pan, add the shallots and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush an ovenproof dish with oil. Dust the pumpkin slices with flour. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet, add the pumpkin slices and cook until lightly browned on both sides. Remove with a slotted spatula and drain on paper towels. Make a layer of pumpkin slices in the prepared dish, sprinkle with a little thyme, spoon some of the tomato sauce on top, add some mozzarella slices and sprinkle with a little Parmesan. Continue making alternating layers until all the ingredients are used. Bake until golden brown and bubbling.
