Pumpkin is a Fall Drug

 

Does anyone really like pumpkin pie? I don’t know, but I do know that just because it’s fall, pumpkin gets a place at every dessertish restaurant chain. Ice cream and donut chains especially work the orange wonder into their products and promotions, making every other restaurant look lazy for not being up to the season.

 

It’s really not that hard to put pumpkin to work on the savory side of the menu. I talked to numerous chefs who have done just that. One likened pumpkin to tofu and its ability to take on many different flavors. And FYI, fresh pumpkin is where it’s at, but if you need a thickener—think canned pumpkin instead of tomato paste.

 

For inspiration, here are 10 ideas from restaurants that have worked pumpkin into non-desserts.

 

1. If you’re making a bean soup—say with cannellini beans—add pumpkin.
2. Tomato soup easily gets a fall lift with the addition of pumpkin. Cranberry soup also takes on pumpkin well.
3. Hollow out a mini pumpkin and fill it with a bean salad, or soup or risotto. You get the picture.
4. Pumpkin seeds are the stuff of granola. Bake the seeds with pecans, toasted oats, dried fruit and honey.
5. For a guacamole update, combine avocados with sweet potatoes, pico de gallo, roasted serrano, cinnamon, ginger and spicy pumpkin seeds.
6. We’re not done with those seeds yet. Crush them and combine with a little flour as a sea bass crust. On the side, slip a cumin-pumpkin puree.
7. How about pumpkin ravioli? Combine pumpkin, Parmesan and ricotta cheeses, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, pepper and sage.
8. Give in to fall and winter flavors with a stew that combines pork chunks, apple cider and cider vinegar, pumpkin, red potato and apple chunks and some carrots for good measure.
9. For a side mash, do your standard mirepoix (including cumin and dried chilies), then add chicken stock and pumpkin. For a little more substance, add cooked beans and mash.
10. Pumpkin mac and cheese anyone? For that important sauce, spice up some cooked pumpkin with cloves or allspice, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Then stir in some grated cheese.

 

If those ideas went by too fast, you can find a little more detail in my “Pumpkin Passion Heats Up” article off to the right. It’s found in the October 2014 issue of The National Culinary Review.

 

Tell me what you think about pumpkin.

Jody