Now, I'll admit, I did not use fresh pumpkin - and I should have since it's pumpkin season. Shame on me. But, I've had a lonely can of pumpkin puree sitting around for a long time and it's been begging me to use it in a fall-themed dish. If you have the time to cut open a pumpkin and scoop out its flesh (use the rest of it for other goodies - e.g. stuff it with fruits and nuts and bake it!), you should do that. If not, the canned stuff works just fine.
If you don't have a food processor, the classic way of grating by hand is the old standby (that's how I used to do it before I got my food processor). I like using the grating disk to fool people into thinking that I slaved over grating it by hand, therefore they must all enjoy. Also, I like the texture of grated potatoes over shredded.
This is actually a modification of my standard potato kugel recipe - which I will probably post at some later point when I have a picture to show for it. In the meantime though you can probably reverse engineer it. If you're into that sort of thing. I know I am.
A fall variation on a classic courtesy of your favorite gourd - pumpkin!
Pumpkin Potato Kugel
6 potatoes
1 large onion
1 can pureed pumpkin (fresh is good too)
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
1/4 tsp allspice
A few sprigs fresh thyme, optional
2 tbsp brown sugar, optional
Heavy pinch of salt
Ground black pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grate the potatoes and onion together, by hand or in a food processor. Squeeze out as much moisture as possible.
3. Dump potato and onion into a boil along with remaining ingredients (except 1 tbsp. brown sugar, if using). Mix very well until you can no longer see flour and everything is well-incorporated.
4. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth out the top. If using, sprinkle remaining brown sugar all over the top to add a deeper molasses color to the top.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (normally I would say bake until brown but color is hard to tell with the pumpkin orange).
Serves 12-16, depending how big you cut it.
6 potatoes
1 large onion
1 can pureed pumpkin (fresh is good too)
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
1/4 tsp allspice
A few sprigs fresh thyme, optional
2 tbsp brown sugar, optional
Heavy pinch of salt
Ground black pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grate the potatoes and onion together, by hand or in a food processor. Squeeze out as much moisture as possible.
3. Dump potato and onion into a boil along with remaining ingredients (except 1 tbsp. brown sugar, if using). Mix very well until you can no longer see flour and everything is well-incorporated.
4. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth out the top. If using, sprinkle remaining brown sugar all over the top to add a deeper molasses color to the top.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (normally I would say bake until brown but color is hard to tell with the pumpkin orange).
Serves 12-16, depending how big you cut it.
Ari, this is an unusual combination but it sounds good blended like this. Pumpkin appears to be versatile. It only enhances and does not diminish.
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