Beyond pie: Pumpkin is nutritious, delicious, colorful and versatile | The Sacramento Bee

When it comes to pumpkin in America, we tend to conjure up images of warm pie and flickering jack-o’-lanterns. Yes, it’s hard to think about the autumn chill, costumed children darting through the neighborhood and cozy Thanksgiving gatherings without a spooky orange orb on the porch and a rich and tasty pie in the oven.

But if you’re looking to use pumpkin in new and creative ways, try some ideas that may take your autumnal cooking to new heights – salads, stews, cakes, cookies, breads and salad dressings, among other things.

At some Thai restaurants locally, you’re apt to find a seasonal pumpkin curry on the menu. Bistros tend to make pumpkin risotto or pumpkin soup this time of year, often as an alternative to more commonly used squash.

Pumpkin has all kinds of nutritional benefits that qualify it, in some circles, as a so-called superfood. Vision-enhancing vitamin A? A serving of pumpkin has twice the recommended daily allowance. Tryptophan? If you tend to toss and turn at night, snacking on pumpkin seeds might put you in just the right kind of food coma.

High in fiber, pumpkin is inevitably heart-healthy. And if you’re looking for something a little more natural than Cialis and Viagra – yup, beta-carotene in pumpkin to the rescue.

Then there are the spices that tend to pair so well with pumpkin, including cloves and cinnamon, “gram for gram, the most powerful antioxidant foods in the world,” according to the website nurtritionfacts.org,

At Grange, the esteemed downtown Sacramento restaurant known for its embrace of all things local and seasonal, you’ll see pumpkin used in creative ways, bringing color, texture and subtle flavor to several savory dishes.

“When we work so seasonally, you get really inventive with how you use certain ingredients,” said Grange executive chef Oliver Ridgeway. “I’ve done everything with pumpkin but pumpkin pie.”

That includes savory beignets, a barbecue sauce, a risotto with smoked pumpkin purée, a pumpkin soup made with lobster stock, and a panzanella salad for which Ridgeway kindly provided the recipe.

“It’s a really usable seasonal vegetable,” he said. “Just roasting it and seasoning it with garlic and olive oil releases its own natural sugars.”

Canned pumpkin is commonly available for pies, as well as for the pumpkin cake recipe included with this story. In that puréed form, pumpkin can also be used in soups, smoothies, lattes and more.

If you want to use fresh pumpkin, however, steer clear of those giant ornamental orbs, said Michael Thiemann, chef-owner of K Street hot spots Mother and Empress Tavern.

“Those are the grossest of the gross,” he said with a laugh. “Find the smaller pumpkins. There is definitely a difference between the decorative pumpkin and edible pumpkins.”

Turns out, Thiemann is not a huge fan of pumpkins. They can be unwieldy to work with. If you break down enough of them, you need a hacksaw. Flavorwise, they tend to be tame. But more than that, they are done and done to death in the same limited ways at so many restaurants.

“There are so many ways pumpkin is cool and they’re super iconic, but you don’t see a lot of creativity with them,” Thiemann said. “Everything is usually too sweet and done with browned butter and sage. You don’t see a lot else.”

Thiemann likes to take pumpkin pulp and work it into a Dijon vinaigrette (his recipe is included).

“It creates this really nice depth of flavor and texture, and the color is beautiful,” he said.

Thiemann likes to roast pumpkin on a sheet pan for many applications, cut into pieces and tossed with olive oil and finished with flake salt. He said you can also freeze pumpkin (or butternut squash) overnight and see it transformed on a molecular level.

“It’s the wildest thing,” he said. “When it thaws back out, the ice crystals soften the texture and you can basically eat it raw.”

Or toss it into the blender for a smoothie. Or into a pot for soup. Beyond pie, there are plenty of possibilities.