Pumpkin Recipes

I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin pecan bread and my daughter’s creamy pumpkin black bean chili. What’s your favorite pumpkin recipe?

Creamy Pumpkin Black Bean Chili
By Shaw Fitzgerald

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 medium white (or yellow) onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 3 teaspoons Thai Kitchen red curry paste
1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Dash clove powder

1 to 2 15 oz cans of black beans
1 29 oz can of pumpkin or one medium-sized sugar pumpkin, roasted
1 large semi-tart apple (such as Gala), diced
2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/3 to ½ cup heavy cream

Secret ingredient: tablespoon of European (unsweetened) cocoa powder
If not available, add one teaspoon instant coffee or a shot of espresso

Grated cheddar cheese for topping

This recipe is better if you roast the pumpkin yourself, plus then you have some pumpkin seeds to roast for garnish. First halve and clean a medium-sized sugar pumpkin, then slice it like a cantaloupe. Coat the slices with oil and lay them on an oiled baking sheet.

I add enough water so the pumpkins will steam and cover the whole baking sheet tightly with tinfoil. Put this in an oven at medium heat for about 30 to 45 minutes. After the slices have cooled, you will be able to easily peel off the shell.

Saute diced onion in butter until translucent. Add the curry paste and garlic and let bloom. Add the chicken broth, black beans and apples. Let simmer and reduce. Add cinnamon and clove. Add the roasted pumpkin, pressing the pieces against the sides of the pan to turn them into mush. Simmer another 10 to 20 minutes until thickened. Add the cream and stir in. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated cheddar cheese on top (and/or roasted pumpkin seeds).

Easily made vegetarian or even vegan by substituting vegetable broth for chicken broth, olive oil for butter and omitting the cream.

The pumpkin quote comes from this great web site, French Word-A-Day, which contains the French quotation plus some great pumpkin expressions. Did you know that in France, having a migraine is having a pumpkin head?