Kabocha Squash Cheese Pie with Toasted Pumpkin-Seed Crust
Deborah Pittorino, Chef/Owner
Cuvee Bistro & Bar in the Greenporter Hotel
Greenport, N. Y.
Yield: 8 servings
1 cup hulled pumpkin seeds
Butter, as needed
¾ cup + 3 T. + more, as needed,
all-purpose;flour
2½ cups brown sugar, divided
3 T. unsalted butter, softened
3 ( 8 oz.) packages cream cheese, room
temperature
2 cups baked, puréed kabocha squash
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 T. rum extract
1 T. cornstarch
½ t. ground cinnamon
¼ t. ground ginger
¹⁄ 8 t. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ t. salt
4 large eggs
Fresh whipped cream, for garnish
Pumpkin brittle or toasted pumpkin
seeds, for garnish
1) Toast pumpkin seeds 7-10 minutes
at;375ºF;;cool.;Butter;and;flour;pan.
Add;toasted;seeds,;¾;cup;flour,;½
cup brown sugar and softened butter
to Robot Coupe; mix to consistency of
graham cracker crust mixture. Press
mixture along bottom of 12-inch x 4-5
inch tall springform pan and up sides.
Bake crust 20 minutes at 375ºF until
brown around edges. Remove from oven;
cool. 2) Cream together cream cheese,
kabocha, mascarpone cheese and rum
extract. Add remaining brown sugar, 3
T.;flour,;cornstarch,;cinnamon,;ginger,
nutmeg and salt; mix. Add eggs one at a
time until incorporated. 3) Pour crust ¾
full. Put on cookie sheet. Bake at 375ºF
for 60 minutes. Cool overnight. Before
serving, garnish each slice with whipped
cream and pumpkin brittle or toasted
pumpkin seeds.
In selecting the right squash, Ferraro prefers
those that still have stems attached and are
heavy. “Whole calabaza may be difficult to
slice because of the tough rind, so I use a
sharp knife or a heavy cleaver. If the squash
resists slicing, I remove the stem and place
the knife or cleaver blade along the squash’s
length and gently tap the blade with a
hammer until the squash falls open.”
For the purée portion of the dish, Ferraro
splits the calabaza in half, removes the
seeds, seasons the flesh with olive oil and
butter and puts it back together, wrapping
in aluminum foil. The squash is then slow-roasted in a 325ºF oven until fork-tender.
“Wrapping the squash in foil seals in its
natural flavor, and the moisture from the
squash creates steam that helps cook it
and prevents it from drying out,” he says.
come in 5-ounce portions priced at $6
each, with a 15% food cost. “Zucchini is
inexpensive, and there’s not much else that
goes into either soup,” Pittorino says. “It’s
cheap to make and delicious to eat. You
can’t lose winning over guests.”
as well, but squash pairs exceptionally
well with seafood because it’s a delicate
ingredient, as is most seafood,” he says.
The flesh is scooped out of the roasted
squash and put in a saucepot to cook further.
“A lot of moisture is still locked in the flesh,
which we want to remove to concentrate
the squash’s natural sugar content further,”
ENTRÉE ELEMENT
Marco Ferraro, executive chef of Wish at
The Hotel, Miami Beach, Fla., says squash
is a versatile food that can be cooked
beyond roasting and incorporated into
the center-of-the-plate with a variety of
proteins. “Don’t limit yourself to serving it
only with steak or chicken,” he says.
Calabaza is a year-round squash popular
in the Caribbean and in Central and South
America, commonly called a West Indian
pumpkin. It has a sweet flavor, firm texture
and varies in size from as large as a
watermelon to as small as a cantaloupe.
Puréed and pickled calabaza squash star
in this pan-seared scallops dish served by
Marco Ferraro at Wish at The Hotel.
Ferraro proves his point using calabaza
squash with pan-seared scallops, preparing
the squash both as a purée and pickled.
Brussels sprouts with pancetta and maple
syrup cream complete the dish ($36/35%
food cost). “I serve squash with red meat,
