Greek Farmer's Market Squash Meets Classic American Dessert

Part- sometimes most- of the pleasure of living abroad is the food. But there is no reason to forget a traditional dish from home. Nostalgia made with fresh things in your new world hits just the right note, like this pie- a holiday standard in our old country, usually with canned pumpkin, and perfectly fine. But it can be better- imagine silky flan enriched with roasted squash, baked in a flaky butter shell. We have fabulous winter squash in Greece- abundance is the mother of invention.

A squash always sits ready on the terrace-
a tiny Botero to catch the afternoon light.

The recipe takes a little planning, as we first need to roast the squash. There will be lots of squash- use the rest to make these gnocchi, or freeze for later.

We will need:

500 g/ 2 generous cups squash puree

450 ml/ 2 C canned milk

1 1/2 to 2 C sugar (depending on the sweetness of the squash)

6 eggs
2 or 3 tablespoons rum or whiskey 

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

a pinch of ground cloves

a few gratings of nutmeg

one pie crust (this recipe will be more than enough for a very generous pie dish), rolled out.

Line your largest, deepest pie dish (we used the classic Emile Henry 25 cm/10") with the dough, trim evenly all around with kitchen shears, and crimp however you wish.

Using a stick blender or electric mixer, blend the filling ingredients, using the lower amount of sugar. Taste, add more sugar if you need it, and maybe some more spice. Be gentle- the squash has a rich, delicate flavor that would be a shame to hide. 

Bake on the oven's lowest rack at 170 C/ 350 F for 45 minutes to an hour- it will jiggle, but a knife put into the center should just come out clean. The puffed filling will settle down and firm as it cools. When cold, it slices beautifully, and this crust will be flaky and crisp- quite a trick with a flan filling. 

Feeling a little lazy? Make only the filling and bake it in one large dish or several cups in a bain marie. 

Serve either with whipped cream- freshly beaten and just barely sweet if you want some sophistication, or sprayed from a can if you want to lighten things up.

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Squash Gnocchi Glow Like Topaz- Two Ingredients, Fifteen Minutes.

To be honest it is four ingredients, if you count the butter and the sage we will use to sauce them. And five if you count the wine - they're not a tuna sandwich. This is restaurant lunch, in no time at all. You'll want the time for lingering at the table. 

We'll need:

500 g/ 2 C pureed roasted squash (simple directions here)

250 g/ 2 C flour (we may not need all of it)

salt to taste, and pinch of nutmeg

Make a sticky dough that holds nicely together by adding the flour gradually, using just as much as you need. Season it to taste, going light with the nutmeg but using enough to underscore the sweetness of the squash.

Flour a gnocchi board if you have one, otherwise flour a work space. Pinch off small pieces of dough and roll into a tapered length the width of a lady's ring finger. Roll over the gnocchi board, or the tines of a fork, to make decorative ridges to hold the sauce.

Put water on to boil, salting it like we do for pasta. Put half of the gnocchi in, wait until they all rise to the surface, then boil another two minutes. Test one to make sure they are cooked through to the center, and take them out with a slotted spoon or a small strainer. Repeat with the other half of the gnocchi. Keep the starchy cloudy salty water they cooked in- we will need it.

Five minutes before you are ready to sit down to lunch, make the sauce -

80 g/ 3 oz butter

sage leaves, fresh or dried

Pour off the top half of the cooking water, leaving the thickest, cloudiest part- this will bind with the butter to make a silky, unctuous sauce. Melt the butter in a large skillet large enough to hold all the gnocchi and let it turn a rich golden brown. Add the gnocchi, brown them a little here and there, and ladle in a little cooking water to make sure they are all nicely coated and to give them some gloss.

These need almost nothing- just a light shower of Parmesan if you like, and a glass of wine.

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Squash, The Glamorous Doyenne of Fall.

Squash - neither dainty nor fragile, nor costly nor small - is still a precious thing. Like little Boteros, they add a voluptuous raw sculptural element to the terrace for weeks until we use them. Noble and patient, they wouldn't dream of spoiling. Once cut, they lend their rich creamy texture and their sweetness to savory dishes and desserts with a flexibility unmatched. They have a huge personality- pastas and soups glow deep saffron yellow, tarts and cakes luscious gold - but they mingle graciously with everyone. They can afford to let the sage sparkle, the nutmeg charm; it is the rich fullness of the squash that effortlessly drives the character of the dish. Everything else is icing on her proverbial cake. Not diva, Queen.

A good squash is not just firm but rather rock-hard, and if it is not too hot out, it will stay that way for as long as you'd like. They are much nicer to look at than baskets of potatoes. I have settled for the moment on this stone blue variety. The subtle outside hides bright orange flesh, darker than most, and cooks up denser than any others. It is much harder than a Halloween carving pumpkin. In fact, the most difficult part of cooking anything with it is getting it open in the first place. Your sharpest and heaviest cleaver will sink into it and then just stay there until you pry it out. We need only to somehow separate it into rough halves though. Scoop out the seeds, and set them aside for roasting if you like (not with this particular variety - the seeds are large and tough). Then just place the halves cut side up on a baking sheet and roast them in a medium oven (170 C/ 350 F) until they yield easily to a knife. This takes abut 45 minutes, but check them often - a squash baked too long loses its lively taste. Once cool. we just scoop the flesh out with a spoon, scraping down to the skin. Use a potato masher or a stick blender or a hand mixer to even out the texture if you like, and portion it out into usable quantities, some to use at once, and some in plastic bags for the freezer. 500 g/ 2 C is a good amount for many recipes.

The dark caramelized surface is delicious. Take it off and eat it right away.
The flesh underneath will be uniformly silky.

This will usually leave you with a portion of uneven measure. With ours, I will make gnocchi for two, with this elegant two-ingredient recipe. 

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