Pumpkin surprise

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin muffins — Americans eat plenty of pumpkin.

But pumpkin is such a versatile vegetable that it deserves to be used in more dishes.

I asked local chefs and caterers about some of their favorite uses for pumpkin. I got some unusual and tasty responses.

If you're tired of eating pumpkin pie, consider a pumpkin roll. Salem Kitchen, a food store on Miller Street, has been making this rolled cake with a cream-cheese filling for many years. It was a favorite recipe of former co-owner Jill Sawyer, who died in March after a fight with brain cancer.

"Jill would make hundreds of these. She would just pump them out till Christmas," said Ann Geis, who is now the sole owner of Salem Kitchen.

Sawyer passed along the recipe to the Salem Kitchen staff. The cake is a seasonal item for the store, and the staff has just started making them. "We have them in our bakery case, but they go fast so that people usually call in advance to order them," Geis said.

The trick to making these is to use a sugar-coated towel to roll the cake in as soon as it comes out of the oven. The cake cools while it's rolled, then it's unrolled and spread with the filling.

"Then we can roll it back up without cracking," Geis said.

Geis particularly likes that the pumpkin roll freezes well.

"You can take it out of the freezer and just slice off three or four slices."

With whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg, it's a pretty dessert for company.

David and Laura Roselli, the owners of Kitchen Roselli in East Bend, make homemade gnocchi with pumpkin puree.

"We have a son who loves pumpkin," David Roselli said. "So we wanted to create something pumpkin-related besides pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. We also do a pumpkin granita that sells out every weekend."

Gnocchi are little Italian dumplings that often are made with mashed potatoes. They can be tricky to make, but Roselli said his recipe is a little easier to work with, in part because it's lightened with ricotta cheese.

"Potato gnocchi are difficult because they can turn out rubbery. These are not like the regular potato gnocchi," he said.

The addition of ricotta helps make these light and fluffy. Cooks will immediately notice the difference. The dough will be soft and moist. Roselli likes to cook these a bit longer than in most gnocchi recipes, just to make sure the centers are done.

Guadalupe Riess, the owner of Du Mexique catering company, turned to Cuba for her pumpkin recipe. Riess is a native of Mexico, but she spent some time in Cuba and loves its food, too.

She calls her dish a corn and pumpkin casserole, but it's really a pork stew with lots of corn and pumpkin in it, and it's spiked with such Latin flavors as garlic and cumin. "I learned this on my trips to Cuba," Riess said. "It's something people make at home."

This dish makes a hearty meal, especially when it's served with rice and a salad. As with just about any pumpkin dish, this can be made with butternut squash.

One unusual touch is that it uses slices of corn on the cob. In Cuba, people pick these out of the stew and eat the kernels off the corn husk. In her version, Riess uses some corn on the cob and some canned corn.

"The husk adds flavor, but many people don't like to mess with corn on the cob," she said. "Canned or frozen is just convenient."

Ameen "Mooney" David of Mooney's Mediterranean Café on Fourth Street also contributed an ethnic dish. Drawing from his family's Lebanese background, his restaurant makes a version of kibbe with pumpkin, based on a recipe from his mother-in-law, Mona Al-Awar.

Most kibbe is made with ground beef or lamb that is mixed with bulgur wheat. It is often shaped into a small football, sort of like a meatball.

David serves a pumpkin kibbe to cater to his many vegetarian customers.

"This is traditional except it should have a meat stuffing. We put in extra walnuts instead of beef or lamb."

David's recipe calls for baking the kibbe in a casserole dish, which is the easiest way to make a lot.

"What I gave you is the family-style dish," he said.

But this same recipe can be shaped into small footballs, 3 to 4 inches long and deep-fried until golden brown. It's especially good with tzatziki or a similar yogurt dressing.

Kibbe can take on many shapes and flavors.

"In Lebanon, my in-laws' neighbor comes over and brings pumpkin kibbe that are not football-shaped, but triangular, like spinach pies," he said. "They can be made in a bunch of different ways."

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Ameen “Mooney” David’s recipe calls for baking the kibbe in a casserole dish.

But this same recipe can be shaped into small footballs, 3 to 4 inches long and deep-fried until golden brown.

Pumpkin Roll

Cake:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin

1 teaspoon lemon flavoring

¾ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup nuts (optional)

½ cup powdered sugar, plus more for serving

Filling:

1 cup powdered sugar

8 ounces cream cheese

4 tablespoons margarine or butter

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15-by-10-inch jellyroll pan. Line the pan with wax paper. Grease and flour the wax paper.

2. Beat eggs and sugar until thick. Beat in pumpkin and lemon flavoring.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in pumpkin mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts, if desired. Bake 13 to 15 minutes, until top of cake springs back

4. Meanwhile, sprinkle the ½ cup powdered sugar on a tea towel; set aside.

5. When the cake is done, turn it over onto the sugar-dusted tea towel and roll cake and towel together starting with the narrow end. Leave cake rolled up and allow it to cool completely.

6. Make the filling by beating all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. When cake is cool, unroll it and remove the towel.

7. Spread the filling over cake. Reroll and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

8. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar. Slice and serve.

Salem Kitchen

Guiso de Maiz y Calabaza

(Corn and Pumpkin Casserole)

Makes about 8 servings

2 pounds pork, such as shoulder

1 pound whole fresh pumpkin

1 pound potatoes

4 bacon strips

¼ pound ham

½ green pepper

½ onion

6 garlic cloves

2 ears corn on the cob

16 ounces (2 cups) crushed tomatoes

½ tablespoon ground cumin

½ tablespoon oregano

2 bay leaves

4 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons Prosecco or other dry white wine

1 medium can corn, drained

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooked white rice, optional

Lime wedges, for garnish

1. Dice pork, pumpkin and potatoes into 1-by-1-inch cubes. Mince bacon and ham, and finely chop green pepper, onion and garlic in the food processor. Cut corn husks into ½-inch slices.

2. Saute bacon in a Dutch oven or other large pot until it releases the fat. Add cubed pork and cook, stirring until golden brown. Add ham, potatoes and pumpkin; cook while stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Add green peppers, garlic, onion, crushed tomatoes, cumin, oregano, bay leaves, vinegar, wine, corn slices and drained canned corn. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover and bring to a simmer.

4. Cook, covered, 30 to 40 minutes or until potatoes, pumpkin and pork are tender. Serve with white rice, if desired, and lime wedges to squeeze over the stew.

Guadalupe Riess, owner of Du Mexique catering company

Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi with Brown Sage Butter Sauce

Gnocchi:

2 pounds canned or cooked pumpkin

2/3 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese, drained

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Grated nutmeg to taste (3 to 4 quick grates)

1¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour

Brown sage butter:

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground white pepper, to taste

20 fresh sage leaves

1/3 cup fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1. If using fresh pumpkin, puree and cool before using. Place pumpkin in a large mixing bowl. Add the ricotta, egg, salt and nutmeg; blend until mixed.

2. Add flour, ½ cup at a time, until dough starts to pull away from sides of bowl but while dough is still very soft. (Important: This is a very moist dough that does not form into a ball.) Place mixture into a clean, dry plastic bag and fasten top with twist tie or rubber band and place in refrigerator until ready to cook the gnocchi.

3. To cook the gnocchi, boil a large pot of salted water. Snip off about a ½-inch tip of the bag of dough from a bottom corner. Holding the bag over the boiling water, press the bag to squeeze out about a teaspoon of mixture from the snipped corner, and use a paring knife to cut the gnocchi, letting it fall into the pot. Add more gnocchi, but don’t crowd the pot; the gnocchi will need to be cooked in about three batches. Cook each batch about 4 minutes, with no stirring, until they float. Then continue cooking for 30 to 45 seconds more, until they are tender but still a bit firm. Lift gnocchi from the pot with a slotted spoon, letting the water drain, and place in a warm dish. Tent the dish with foil to keep warm while cooking the remaining gnocchi.

4. While the gnocchi are cooking, make the brown sage butter. Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add salt, pepper and the sage leaves. Continue to cook, swirling the butter occasionally until the foam subsides and the milk solids begin to brown. (Watch carefully that the butter doesn’t overbrown or burn.) Carefully remove sage leaves when golden onto paper towel to drain. Add cooked gnocchi and half the crispy sage leaves to the butter, stirring gently until each dumpling is coated with sauce. Remove the pan from the heat. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving dish, garnish with Parmigiano Reggiano, remaining sage leaves and serve immediately.

Kitchen Roselli in East Bend

Pumpkin Kibbe

(Ameen “Mooney” David’s recipe calls for baking the kibbe in a casserole dish.

But this same recipe can be shaped into small footballs, 3 to 4 inches long and deep-fried until golden brown.)

Kibbe:

½ pound bulgur/cracked wheat, rinsed and drained (See Note)

1 pound mashed potato (with milk and butter, if desired), or about 2 cups

½ pound canned pumpkin

¼ small onion, pureed

1 teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cumin

1¼ teaspoons salt

¾ tablespoon all-purpose flour

Stuffing:

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ large onion, finely chopped

¼ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

½ pound mashed potato, or about 1 cup

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sumac (See Note)

1. For the kibbe, mix the bulgur, potato, pumpkin, onion, marjoram, basil, allspice, cumin and salt until thoroughly combined. Add flour and mix for 30 seconds.

2. For the stuffing, heat vegetable oil in a saute pan, add onion and saute until tender and golden brown. Stir in walnuts and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mashed potato, salt and sumac and cook for 3 minutes.

3. Butter a 9-by-13-inch casserole. Heat oven to 350 degrees. To assemble, layer half the kibbe in the casserole. Spread the stuffing evenly over the kibbe in the pan. Layer the rest of the kibbe over the stuffing. If desired, score the top with a fork to make designs. Add small pats of butter to the top to keep from getting too crisp; or drizzle or brush with oil.

4. Bake 30 minutes. Cut into squares or triangles. This is usually garnished with a yogurt dressing similar to tzatziki and served with a salad of Romaine, cucumber and onion.

Note: Sumac is sold in such specialty markets as Mediterrasia on Trendwest Drive. Bulgur is sold in specialty markets as well as some larger supermarkets. Sumac gives the stuffing a purplish color and adds a tangy, lemony flavor.

Mooney’s Mediterranean Café