Pumpkins aren’t just for carving Halloween Jack-o-lanters. They are the season's ideal recipe ingredient for dishes like pie, pasta and even pizza!
What's particularly great about pumpkin is that they can be sweet or savory - try enhancing with coconut for a sweeter dish or cayenne pepper for spicy.
Pumpkin Ravioli
Ingredients:
For the filling:
1-lb. piece Cheese or Sugar Pie pumpkin, calabaza or butternut squash, seeds and strings removed
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 Tbs. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or grana padano cheese
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1 to 2 Tbs. dried bread crumbs
1 1/4 lb. fresh pasta dough
5 Tbs. unsalted butter, clarified (see tip below)
12 large fresh sage leaves
2 Tbs. kosher salt
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Prick the pumpkin with a fork before roasting to help evaporate the moisture. Place the pumpkin directly on the oven rack and roast until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife (45 to 50 minutes).
When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scrape the flesh from the peel; transfer to a food processor and process until smooth.
Transfer the pumpkin puree to a bowl. Add the egg yolk, cheese, nutmeg and sea salt. Mix well, adding the bread crumbs as needed to bind the ingredients into a cohesive mixture. Cover the filling and set aside.
Roll out the pasta into a flat sheet 1/32 inch thick, then cut into ravioli shapes of your choice. Fill each with about a tablespoon filling. Seal shut and let dry a few minutes. Add to a pot of boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes.
To make butter sauce, pour the clarified butter into a small frying pan and place over low heat. Add the sage leaves and heat until the butter is saturated with the flavor of the sage (3 to 4 minutes). Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.
Pumpkin Calzone
Roll out your favorite pizza dough to create a pumpkin calzone!
For the Pumpkin Filling; - Place a pan on a stove top and melt the butter with a lug of olive oil over a medium heat. Add the sliced shallot, a pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes or until softened and then add the pumpkin.Continue to cook, stirring regularly for a couple of minutes. - Pour the chicken stock into the pan and cover with a lid. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the pumpkin turns soft then remove the lid and add the sugar and vinegar. - Stir well to mix and leave to cool slightly before mashing and adding the provolone. Season with salt and pepper and leave to cool before covering and refrigerating for up to 3 days. For the Calzone; - To make the calzone, open the dough ball into a pizza skin- slightly smaller than you would for a pizza as we don’t want it too thin. - Spoon in a line of pumpkin across the centre- around 3 tbsp, and tear over the nduja and mozzarella. Make sure to leave a border of around 4cm around the outside. - Fold the dough over towards you and use the butt end of a pizza wheel to stick the dough together all the way round- it should look like a classic calzone or Cornish pasty at this point! - Cut the excess dough away from the crimped edge so you’re left with a beautiful looking sealed parcel and pierce the top 2 or 3 times with a skewer to allow the steam to escape. - Slide the calzone onto a floured placement peel and launch into the front third of the oven. Bake, rotating as required, for around 2-3 minutes. - As soon as the calzone comes out of the oven brush with the melted butter, sprinkle over the toasted pumpkin seeds and serve.
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