Whole Stuffed Roasted Pumpkin
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
divided 4 beef Italian sausages (12 oz.) or vegan sausages
12 ounces mushrooms, quartered
1 tablespoon butter
6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large red onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock or vegetarian stock
1 3/4 cups frozen black-eyed peas
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup uncooked farro
1/2 pound baby red potatoes, quartered
2 large carrots, cut into 1/2-in.-thick slices
1 (10- to 12-lb.) Long Island Cheese pumpkin or Cinderella
pumpkin
1 (28-oz.) can unsalted whole tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut out top of pumpkin, and reserve; remove strings and seeds. Wrap pumpkin in foil; place in a large roasting pan or baking dish.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat; swirl to coat. Add sausages; cook 6 minutes or until browned on all sides. Remove to a large plate; when cool enough to handle, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
4. Increase heat to medium-high, add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan. Add mushrooms; sauté 7 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to plate with sausage.
5. Add butter and remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add garlic, celery, and onion; cook 5 minutes. Add berbere and cardamom; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add stock, peas, and salt; simmer 10 minutes. Add farro, potatoes, and carrots; simmer 20 minutes.
6. Drain tomatoes in a colander over a bowl. Break up tomatoes with hands, allowing juices to drain. Stir tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, and parsley into stew. Ladle stew into prepared pumpkin. Place pumpkin top next to pumpkin on the pan. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until pumpkin flesh is tender and easily scooped from the sides. Serve stew along with spoonfuls of pumpkin.
Pumpkin, Fennel & Taleggio Tart
Ingredients
1 small pumpkin or 1 small squash
5 tbsp avocado oil
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
2 small fennel bulbs
1/2 small lemon juice
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and coarsely crushed
2 cups spinach slakes removed
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
puff pastry
1 egg yolk mixed
1 cup Taleggio, sliced
Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven to 375º
2. Pumpkin: peel, de-seed then part into two. Cut flesh into thick wedges and cut again into halves, then cut into quarters. Put the slices into a roasting pan with half the avocado oil, nutmeg and seasoning, and toss to coat. Roast the pumpkin for 30 mins, or until tender and a little caramelized.
3. Halve the fennel bulbs lengthways and remove the tops and tough outer leaves. Trim the base and cut each half into thick wedges, keeping them intact at the base. Put the wedges straight into a bowl and toss with the lemon juice to prevent discoloring. Add the fennel seeds, remaining avocado oil and some seasoning, then toss well. Spread the fennel in a roasting pan large enough to hold it in a single layer and cover with foil. Roast the fennel for 20 mins, or until tender with a pale golden underside.
4. Wash the spinach and cook in a covered pan over a medium heat for 1-2 mins. When wilted, drain in a colander and leave to cool. Squeeze the excess moisture out of the spinach, chop roughly and season. Melt the butter in a frying pan and quickly fry the spinach with the garlic for 3 mins. Set aside.
5. Roll out the pastry to make the base of the tart, ending up with a piece measuring roughly 10x15 inches. Put the pastry base onto a floured metal baking sheet. Create a border all the way round by lightly running a knife 1 inch from the edge. Prick the rest of the pastry all over with a fork. Put a rectangle of baking parchment the size of the tart and over the pastry. Weight it down with baking beans. Knock up the sides of the pastry by holding a small knife at a right angle to the pastry and making small indentations to release the layers. This will give you a better rise. Paint the border with the egg wash. Put the pastry in the pre-heated oven and cook for 25 mins, removing the beans and paper after 15 mins. Take the partially cooked tart base out of the oven and if the center has risen, gently flatten it with the back of a wooden spoon.
6. Turn the oven up to 400º.
7. Spoon the spinach onto the pastry, then put the pumpkin and fennel on top. Distribute the cheese over the top. Put the tart back into the oven and cook for a further 25 mins. The cheese should be golden in areas and the pastry should be cooked and golden.
8. Score tart into squares and serve hot.
Pumpkin Pie Shake
Ingredients
1 cup cinnamon or vanilla ice cream
1/8 of a leftover pumpkin pie
1/4 cup milk
Whipped cream
Ground cinnamon
Instructions
1. In a blender combine ice cream, pie, and milk. Cover and blend until almost smooth.
2. Serve topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. If desired, garnish with a sliver of pie.
Luci's Urban Concepts
www.lucisurbanconcepts.com
