As a child, I couldn’t imagine doing anything with a pumpkin other than carving a jack o’lantern. Besides, the day after Halloween I was always busy with my haul of trick-or-treating candy. Yes, I saw pumpkin pie on the Thanksgiving table, but I wouldn’t go near it. Family members would try to encourage me with the “try it, you’ll like it” line from old Alka-Seltzer commercials, but I would quickly remind them that trying it didn’t end very well. (“So I tried it. Thought I was gonna die.”) Someone eventually conned me into taking “just one bite” of a pumpkin cheesecake and suddenly I was a pumpkin zealot, hunting down pumpkin muffins, pumpkin breads, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin soup, pumpkin fritters and, well, you get the drift. Turns out, the classic Halloween decoration is about the least interesting thing one can do with a pumpkin.
I often wonder what happens to all of those cleverly carved gourds — and the cute decorative mini-squashes that also adorn porches and window displays. I would hope that they get eaten or otherwise used rather than just thrown in the trash. Truth be told, actual jack o’lantern pumpkins (yes, this is an actual type of pumpkin not just one that is decoratively carved), while edible, are stringy and not as meaty as other varieties.
The pumpkin strains that are best for cooking include the baby bear, sugar pumpkins, Cinderellas and red warty things among others. Pumpkin season is short, so if you want to enjoy these tasty treats, now is the time to do it. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, actual pumpkins will be long gone (though plenty of delicious winter squashes and even sweet potatoes make good substitutes).
One of the many virtues of fresh pumpkin is that it crosses both geographic and culinary borders and can be savory or sweet, a dessert, a main dish, an appetizer or a side. It takes to the assertiveness of Asian fish sauce or garlic-chile paste as well as it works with gentler cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves typically used in European and American preparations. It is a veritable menu workhorse as these recipes from our archives demonstrate.
A dish often eaten for Eid al-Fitr is Chicken With Candied Pumpkin (Djaj Bel-Qera Mderbela). Its Arabic name literally means “chicken with raggedy pumpkin,” because the pumpkin has been cooked down to a delicious but untidy-looking mush. The chicken is braised as if in a tagine, and the pumpkin is cooked separately, puréed and then served either stirred into the sauce or on the side.
Squash, the huge family that includes pumpkin, may have originated in the Americas, but it has traveled farther and wider than even corn. A lavish amount of garlic, a few tablespoons of sugar and a hefty dose of fish sauce play off of each other in this Vietnamese Glazed Pumpkin. The simple braise simmers on the stove for 20 to 25 minutes while you attend to other parts of your meal, like steaming the rice, which also, once on the stove and reduced to low, will allow you to have a seat and put your feet up for a few minutes before dinner is ready.
Pumpkin is absolutely ingrained in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent. It gets stewed in curries and deep-fried as pakora. Badmaash’s Punjabi Spiced Pumpkin is one of those curries. This traditional Punjabi-style dish is made by cooking pumpkin in spices, aromatics and mango powder. At Badmaash restaurant, it could be served with black lentils cooked with ginger and poori. Chef Nakul Mahendro also suggests serving it with naan and pickles, yogurt and other condiments. It could just as easily be a side to most any roasted or grilled meat.
Don’t let the reputed 40 to 45 minutes of constant stirring sway you from making this Pumpkin Risotto. A pressure cooker cuts the cooking time in half and leaves you hands-free to tend to other parts of the meal or just relax for a few minutes, cocktail optional. And the pumpkin purée? It is no crime to use canned — which is every bit as good (and sometimes better) than fresh.
Sultry and rich, this Pumpkin Lasagna may become your replacement for traditional meat-mozzarella-and-red-sauce lasagna. Made with fresh lasagna noodles, you don’t spend a lot of time cooking them before they become the dividers between layers of béchamel, roasted pumpkin, prosciutto and creamy Taleggio cheese. To double the pumpkin flavor, toss it with some pumpkin seed oil before roasting.
Smack in the middle of the very short pumpkin season, I would be remiss not to include a recipe for one of America’s favorite desserts. While it can be as straightforward as pumpkin purée, condensed milk, a few eggs and a pumpkin pie spice mix poured into a pie shell, Nashville Hot Pumpkin Pie takes it a step further by adding cayenne pepper to give the filling some heat and chicken fat to the crust to amp up the umami. The cayenne gives a gentle kick to the sweet, creamy pie (and, of course, if you don’t abide a kick in your pie, feel free to omit it).
Speaking of chiles, check out our spice blend collaboration with Burlap & Barrel. L.A. Times Food teamed up with single-origin spice company Burlap & Barrel to create California Heat, inspired by all of our favorite spicy condiments, especially chili crisp. It’s made with a variety of chiles, including jalapeños from a California grower, chipotle and Kashmir chile powder, as well as lemongrass, Timur pepper and black lime. It’s spicy, citrusy, smoky and tingly, and it’s now available to purchase online.
Chicken With Candied Pumpkin (Djaj Bel-Qera Mderbela)
The chicken is braised with onions, saffron and ginger. The pumpkin is sweetened with honey and flavored with cinnamon. The result is a dish remarkably reminiscent of turkey with candied yams.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 2 hours.
(Anacleto Rapping / Los Angeles Times)
Vietnamese Glazed Pumpkin
Savory and full of flavor, this dish works equally well served as an entree over rice and as a side to grilled or roasted meats. It is very quick and easy to make and will leave your taste buds happily humming.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 1 hour.
(Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
Badmaash’s Punjabi Spiced Pumpkin
To make this dish, Badmaash’s chef Mahendro likes to use either Jamaican or Long Island Cheese pumpkins from Tanaka Farms in Irvine, though most any pumpkin — or winter squash — will do. While full of flavor, it uses only a few spices so there is no need to be intimidated by the fact that it’s origins are in India, where the variety of spices in a dish can often feel overwhelming. And, bonus, this vegan and gluten-free preparation will please everyone at your table.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 35 minutes.
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
Pumpkin Risotto
A pressure cooker makes quick work of this traditionally slow-cooked Italian favorite. A main dish in its own right, this vegetarian risotto is also terrific topped with grilled tofu, seafood or chicken (though the latter two options obviously cancel the vegetarian status) and as a first course — with or without added protein. Rosemary enhances pumpkin’s earthy flavor; toasted, chopped walnuts add texture and a drizzle of walnut oil ups the umami factor.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 30 minutes.
(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Pumpkin Lasagna
This dish is testimony to how well pumpkin goes with béchamel and cheese. Once pumpkin season ends, you can substitute any other hard squash such as Buttercup, kabocha, Hokkaido, calabaza or even good old butternut.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 2 hours 30 minutes.
(Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times)
Nashville Hot Pumpkin Pie
Sweet, creamy and oh so delicious, this pie is sweetened with brown sugar, which gives a hint of caramel flavor, and a bit of honey. The evaporated milk helps make it so creamy. If you don’t care for schmaltz in your pie crust, see the variation that allows for using butter instead. And if you don’t want to make a crust at all, store-bought, pre-made will work just fine too.
Get the recipe.
Cook time: 2 hours.
(Leslie Grow / For The Times)
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