One of my responsibilities, when I was the morning cook at the Ritz-Carlton, was to create a soup du jour for the restaurant using leftovers or any other ingredients that were in abundance.
One Friday after Thanksgiving, logic told me the pumpkins that were being used for decoration in the ballroom were up for grabs. I brought them all down to the kitchen and cut them in half, scooped out the seeds, rubbed them with olive oil and roasted them. I made a delicious curried pumpkin bisque garnished with turkey confit and pickled cranberries, a perfect fall soup.
The Food and Beverage Director came looking for me. He needed those pumpkins for one more event that night. He was pretty upset that I cooked his decorations; I was upset he didn’t try my soup.
Orange You Glad It’s Fall?
Pumpkin is the quintessential seasonal ingredient. Can you imagine someone serving pumpkin pie at a Fourth of July picnic? Of course not, that idea is absurd. Conversely, ingredients like tomatoes are frequently used well past their season.
Tomato caprese can be found on restaurant menus well into the winter and no one thinks twice about it even though tomatoes are out of season and flavorless by then. Pumpkins, on the other hand, are carved up into jack-o-lanterns or turned into pie, and then quickly removed from store shelves the Friday after Thanksgiving, not to be seen again until next fall. That’s too bad because they can still be available, it’s just socially unacceptable to serve pumpkin dishes after Thanksgiving.
Roast, Mash, Enjoy
As an ingredient, pumpkin offers a lot of versatility; there’s more that can be done than just pie. Roasting it intensifies its natural sweetness, and you can mash it up with some butter to make a comforting side dish that goes great with roasted chicken or pork.
Pumpkin risotto is a labor of love. The constant stirring of the rice and the addition of slow-roasted pumpkin is a satisfying cold-weather dish. It can also be used in lighter dishes, as well. It shines as a main ingredient in a spinach salad with candied pecans, goat cheese and a light vinaigrette. The seeds are an obvious textural ingredient and even have a fancy name: pepitas.
If you are unsure what else goes with pumpkin, think about your favorite butternut squash or sweet potato recipe and incorporate pumpkin into it. What grows together goes together, so things like local maple syrup, root vegetables and dark, leafy greens complement pumpkin really well. Sage is a good choice for an herbal note, but rosemary also is a great addition to savory recipes.
Canned pumpkin is the go-to ingredient for those who are adventurous enough to make their own pumpkin pie. There’s no shame in using it; canned pumpkin is a quality product that saves time. You can have creative control with the use of spices when making your own pie, which will wow your guests. Try getting a little fancy by adding pecans to a homemade pie crust. Roast fresh pumpkin, pureé it in a blender with brown sugar, a little maple syrup, fresh grated ginger and spices, and you will be wishing the pumpkin season lasted longer.
John Selick is the senior culinary manager at Sodexo Healthcare Services for University Hospitals in Cleveland.
