Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe from Lancaster Farmacy

Black Futsu Squash grown by LFFC member farm Lancaster Farmacy.

Casey Spacht and Eli Weaver of LFFC member farm Lancaster Farmacy submitted this Thanksgiving Day must-have. Casey also serves the Co-op’s General Manager.

Black Futsu, Speckled Hound, or Long Neck Vegan Pumpkin Pie Ingredients
1 12-ounce block silken tofu
2 cups cooked squash
½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup arrowroot powder
½ cup brown or maple sugar
1½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut your squash of choice in half and bake face down in pan with a little bit of water until skin is easily pierced by a fork. Scoop out flesh.
3. Lower oven to 350 degrees.
4. Put all ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Pour into prepared pie crust and bake until firm.

Arugula and Carrot with Pumpkin Dressing

I think the stars of this show are the amazing baby arugula that we got last week and, yum, puree of pumpkin. One of the fun things, ahem challenges, of a CSA are working with things that stretch you. This salad came about when I realized that I needed to use up a large bag of arugula and several root vegetables. My wife had a can of pumpkin puree open to make some cupcakes. After going back and forth a bit I ended up with this perfect salad for a crisp autumn day.

Dressing
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Salad
1 large handful of fresh young peppery arugula
1 medium sized carrot (about 4 inches)
Optional: 1/4 small apple and 1/4 red bell pepper
Pumpkin seeds for crunch. Can substitute home made croutons.

Toss the salad with the dressing and serve immediately. The carrots we had happened to be purple carrots so I had a wonderful and unexpected contrast of colors. Other contrast are the sweetness of the dressing with the pepperiness of the arugula and the textures of velvet pumpkin and crisp arugula and crunch of carrots.

Spicy Fall Pumpkin Stew

Thank you to Courtney, a CSA shareholder from Leola, PA, for sharing the following recipe, adapted from VegetarianTimes.com (http://www.vegetariantimes.com/). Courtney uses red kuri, kabocha, or buttercup squash in the place of pumpkin and serves with salsa and slices of avocado.

Spicy Fall Pumpkin Stew
Ingredients
1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder, preferably New Mexican
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ pound tomatillos, husked and quartered (if available)
Cous cous or quinoa
¾ teaspoon salt
1 3 to 4 pound pumpkin, red kuri, kabocha, or buttercup squash
½ cup packed cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in pot over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Sauté for 7 minutes, or until softened. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and oregano, and cook 3 minutes more, or until spices darken.
2. Add tomatillos, cous cous or quinoa, ½ cup water, and salt. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, 10 to 12 minutes, or until tomatillos are softened. Uncover, and cook 5 minutes more to thicken stew, if necessary.
3. Meanwhile, cut top of pumpkin (or squash) around stem to make lid. Scoop out pumpkin seeds and strings. Rub inside of pumpkin with remaining 1 Tbs. oil, and sprinkle generously with salt. Sprinkle cheese in bottom of pumpkin.
4. Fill pumpkin with stew, then top with pumpkin lid. Place on parchment-covered baking sheet and bake 1½ to 2 hours, or until pumpkin flesh is fork-tender. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.
5. Scoop stew, including pumpkin, into bowls and serve hot.

Pumpkin Pudding Recipe from Elm Tree Organics

Another pumpkin recipe submitted by Eli Fisher (Elm Tree Organics) from the October 9th edition of Lancaster Farming, 2010! Can substitute any winter squash for pumpkin.

Pumpkin Pudding Recipe from Elm Tree Organics
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 package instant vanilla or butterscotch pudding
1½ cups evaporated milk
*16-ounce prepared pumpkin
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cloves
whipped cream

Directions
In a large bowl, beat pudding and evaporated milk according to directions on the package. Chill for at least five minutes. Add prepared pumpkin or winter squash and spices. Mix well and chill for at least 10 minutes. Serve in dessert dishes and top with whipped cream. *To prepare pumpkin (or winter squash), cut in half and scoop out seeds. Save the seeds to roast in the oven for a tasty snack! Place pumpkin cut side down into a baking dish. Add ½-inch water. Bake in a 450 degree oven until you can pierce the skin with a fork (about 45 minutes to 1 hour). Scoop out flesh with a spoon.

*To prepare pumpkin (or winter squash), cut in half and scoop out seeds. Save the seeds to roast in the oven for a tasty snack! Place pumpkin cut side down into a baking dish. Add ½-inch water. Bake in a 450 degree oven until you can pierce the skin with a fork (about 45 minutes to 1 hour). Scoop out flesh with a spoon.

Pumpkin Cheese Soup Recipe from Elm Tree Organics

Another favorite from Elm Tree Organics! Originally published in the October 9th edition of Lancaster Farming, 2010.

Pumpkin Cheese Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients
4 cups chicken broth
1½ pounds seeded pumpkin (or winter squash), peeled and quartered
1 medium potato, peeled and quartered
¼ teaspoon white pepper
salt, to taste
6 to 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
green pepper, cut in strips for garnish

Directions
In a large saucepan, combine chicken stock, pumpkin, potato, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. In a blender, process half or a third at a time until pumpkin is smooth. Return to saucepan. Heat through. Season to taste with salt. Transfer to soup bowls and sprinkle with cheese. Garnish with pepper strips.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe from Elm Tree Organics

Eli from Elm Tree Organics sent the following recipe to the LFFC warehouse with his delivery of purple carrots this week! It comes from the October 9th issue of Lancaster Farming. He wrote in the margins that any type of winter squash can be used for this recipe (see Lancaster Farmacy Black Futsu Squash above!), but that some squash are drier than others and may require more water.

Pumpkin Bread
Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
*16-ounce prepared pumpkin (or winter squash)
3½ cups flour
½ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon allspice
⅔ cup water
1 cup chopped pecans, optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, oil, and eggs. Add prepared pumpkin and mix well. Mix flour and spices and add to pumpkin mixture, mixing until blended. If using pecans, stir them in now. Add water, beat well and pour into two greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Test center with a toothpick, which should come out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing from pan.

*To prepare pumpkin (or winter squash), cut in half and scoop out seeds. Save the seeds to roast in the oven for a tasty snack! Place pumpkin cut side down into a baking dish. Add ½-inch water. Bake in a 450 degree oven until you can pierce the skin with a fork (about 45 minutes to 1 hour). Scoop out flesh with a spoon.