A HARTE APPETITE: PUMPKINS CREATE FLAVOR VARIETY IN TRADITIONAL MEAL

Not too many people suffer from apocolocynposis, though surely this would be the time of year for it. Apocolocynposis is the fear of turning into a pumpkin and with pumpkin consumption at its height around the Thanksgiving holiday you'd think the phobia would be more prevalent.

What does seem to be common during the holiday season, however, is fear of using pumpkin in anything other than pie. I don't know if there's a name for this condition, but it's unfortunate, for pumpkin can star in just about any course at Thanksgiving dinner.

We made this happy discovery a dozen years ago when I prepared ravioli with pumpkin filling as the prelude to our Thanksgiving dinner. Though family members were skeptical at first, they liked the dish and ever since we have continued the tradition of not waiting until dessert to have pumpkin on our Thanksgiving menu.

It's an easy tradition to uphold because pumpkin, a native American food which can be traced as far back as 7000 B.C., is extremely versatile. After all, it can be treated as either fruit or vegetable and it can be prepared in dozens of ways. There's pumpkin soup and pumpkin stew, pumpkin dumplings, pumpkin salsa, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin dip, pumpkin pasta sauce, pumpkin pancakes, pork roast stuffed with pumpkin, pumpkin dinner rolls, pumpkin butter, and pumpkin pickles, not to mention a cornucopia of desserts such as pumpkin cake, pumpkin brownies, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin bread pudding, pumpkin souffle, pumpkin mousse, pumpkin custard, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin roulade, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin fudge, and, of course, pumpkin pie. Pumpkin can even be used to make beer, ale, and wine. And, of course, pumpkin seeds are a treat in their own right.

So this year don't skip the pumpkin pie, but don't restrict your use of pumpkin to just pastry filling. Go beyond pumpkin pie and experiment with this adaptable plant that was so common in America's colonial days that the Port of Boston was once known as Pumpkinshire. Here are a few recipes to get you started.

Pumpkin Soup

This is unquestionably one of the best pumpkin soups I've ever eaten, and it's a snap to prepare. The recipe is from St. Louis Days--St. Louis Nights, an excellent cookbook published by the Junior League of St. Louis.

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon red pepper

3 cups chicken broth

1 16-ounce can pumpkin

1 cup half-and-half

Directions:

In large saucepan, melt butter; saute onion and garlic until soft. Add curry powder, salt, coriander, and red pepper; cook 1 minute. Add broth; boil gently, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in pumpkin and half-and-half; cook 5 minutes. Pour into blender container. Cover; blent until creamy. Serve warm or reheat to desired temperature. Garnish with sour cream and chopped chives, if desired. Makes 6 cups.

Ravioli with Pumpkin Filling

This is not as strange as it sounds. Pumpkin, after all, is a member of the squash family and so it is right at home in this savory filling laced with Parmesan cheese. If you prefer, you can use Won Ton wrappers, but it's really very easy to make your own pasta if you have a hand crank pasta machine and the assembly process goes faster, too, because you can dot a long length of rolled dough with filling, cover with another layer of dough, and use a pastry wheel to cut into several small ravioli. If you use Won Ton wrappers, make one pasta package per 3-inch square and trim with a biscuit cutter to make round ravioli which are fancier, I think, than the square variety. This recipe is from Bon Appetit magazine.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup semolina flour

1 teaspoon salt, divided

6 eggs, room temperature

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons warm water

10 ounces solid pack pumpkin

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

6 single amaretti (macaroons)

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

3/4 cup unsalted butter, clarified

Directions:

For pasta: combine flours and 1/2 teaspoon salt in processor. Add 4 eggs, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and water and blend until dough comes together, about 20 seconds. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes. Wrap in plastic and let stand 15 minutes. For filling: blend pumpkin, cheese, remaining 2 eggs, macaroons, pepper, nutmeg, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in processor. To assemble: Cut dough into six pieces. Flatten each piece, fold into thirds, and run through pasta machine at widest setting. Repeat until dough is smooth and velvety. Adjust machine to next narrower setting and run dough through without folding. Repeat, narrowing rollers after each run until dough is 1/16 inch thick. Dust with flour if sticky. Lay each sheet of dough on lightly floured surface and mound level teaspoons of filling at 2-inch intervals, leaving 1/2-inch border along edges. Brush water between filling and along edges of dough and top with second sheet, pressing around filling to seal. Trim around filling using pasty cutter to create ravioli. Let dry until leathery around edges. Stir remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil into large pot of boiling salted water. Add ravioli and cook until tender but firm to bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, transfer to bowl, toss with butter, divide among 8 plates, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and ground pepper. Makes 8 appetizer servings.

Pumpkin Brownies

These dense, cream cheese swirled brownies are wonderful by themselves, but the recipe's creator, Betty Rosbottom, director of La Belle Pomme cooking school in Columbus, Ohio, recommends serving them with vanilla ice cream and warm caramel sauce. To me such excess seems appropriate for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (generous)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1/4 cup softened cream cheese

2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 8-inch square glass baking dish. Beat butter in large bowl until light. Gradually add brown sugar and beat until well blended. Add egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla and blend. Add flour, baking powder, spices, and salt and beat until well mixed. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in nuts. Spread batter in pan. (Batter will be thick.) Mix cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar, egg yolk, cream, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in bowl to blend. Drop cream cheese mixture by heaping tablespoons atop batter and gently swirl with knife. Bake until tester comes out clean and top is firm, about 35 minutes. Makes 10.

Got a recipe you'd like to share with our readers? Are you looking for a recipe for something in particular? Send your recipes and requests to The Harte Appetite, c/o Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semovm.semo.edu.

~Tom Harte is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University and write a food column every other week for the Southeast Missourian.