Jack O' Lantern Waste Not

About author / Lauren Braun Costello

The competent cook; food stylist; cooking instructor; graduate French Culinary Institute. To die for dish? Maple glazed bacon wrapped roast turkey. Yep, bacon wrapped.

Last October I attended one of the most elegant lunches I have ever had.  My dear friend Paula invited me and my family to her parents' house in upstate New York.  Overlooking an oasis of rolling hills and trees ablaze with red, amber and golden leaves, Paula's family home is a veritable sanctuary to the autumn season.  The lunch was an ode to their Brazilian heritage and the brisk fall day on which we gathered: shrimp stew presented in an enormous pumpkin, scooped and cleaned to be the terrine from which our scrumptious lunch was served.  Our hostess then ladled each of us a bowl of stew from the sideboard where we all admired this exceptional seasonal masterpiece.

Not everyone has the time, or the patience, to carve a pumpkin for food, let alone for serviceware.  But so many of us carve jack o' lanterns at Halloween for decoration.  In this spirit it does not seem tiring or difficult to saw away at an oversized orange winter squash.  On the contrary, it is a fun family activity that brings us both pride and joy as we see its face for the first time when we light a candle in the barren pumpkin shell.  We can carve a jack o' lantern for the purpose of celebrating Halloween, but we do not need to waste the flesh we scoop out as we flex our artistic muscles.

Toasted Seeds and Much More
Most of us have enjoyed fresh pumpkin seeds, at one time or another, toasted and salted.  People seem to be willing to save this natural snack when carving a jack o' lantern.  The flesh, on the other hand, seems to be too great a task.  Or perhaps no one really knows what to do with all that pumpkin flesh?

One word of caution: particularly large pumpkins are not ideal for baking, as they produce stringy flesh.  If you are making a miniature jack o' lantern, or if you are in the market for a smaller pumpkin, buy a Kabocha Squash, commonly called the "sugar pumpkin."

The following ideas may inspire you to save that sweet pumpkin flesh--or even scoop out a fresh pumpkin post-Halloween.

Pumpkin Boiled, Pumpkin Baked
If you are starting with a whole fresh pumpkin, the easiest way to cook it is to split the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and the stringy pulp. Save the seeds, dry them and then roast them for a delicious snack.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Place the pumpkin halves, cut side down, on a sheet pan and bake for about one hour or until the flesh is tender to the touch when pierced with a knife. Spoon the soft pulp out of the shell for use in recipes ranging from pumpkin bread to pumpkin pie.

However, if you are using flesh from a freshly carved jack o' lantern, or if you just prefer to cut the scooped pumpkin flesh into chunks and remove the peel, boiling is an easy method. Place the chunks in a saucepan and cover with water and bring to a boil.  Cook until the pumpkin is tender when pierced with a knife. Drain, let the chunks cool, and then puree them in a food processor until smooth.

Roasted Pumpkin Risotto
Amy Powell's second CDKitchen article, Risotto: Love at First Bite, details all the proper techniques for making risotto.  Pumpkin, a food that works for both sweet and savory dishes, is the ideal seasonal accent to risotto.  Follow Amy's risotto recipe and replace the peas and prosciutto with 1 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin flesh.  You can even add some fresh sage for another depth of flavor.

Pumpkin Muffins
Follow your favorite pumpkin bread recipe, but make use of fresh pumpkin flesh.  You will be amazed how improved the taste is just by replacing canned pumpkin with the real deal.  Since you are working with fresh pumpkin, toast the pumpkin seeds, but toss them in a bit of sugar when they come out of the oven.  When you top your muffins with cream cheese frosting you can finish the task with the perfect garnish!

Happy Halloween, Competent Cooks!