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Photographed by Keirnan Monaghan
Directions:
Bake the potatoes in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until fork-tender. While the potatoes are roasting, peel and dice the pumpkin. Juice 2 quarts of the diced pumpkin. Place remaining pumpkin in a pot, add the pumpkin juice, and simmer until fork-tender. Allow to cool slightly, then puree with the olive oil and season with salt to taste. Reserve.
To make the gnocchi, peel potatoes and pass through a food mill. Add the egg, salt, and nutmeg to the potatoes and mix. Place the flour on a wooden cutting board making a well in the center, then gently knead the flour into the potato mass until all the flour is incorporated. Cover the dough with a dusting of flour and a moist kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Cut off large chunks of the dough and roll into 1-inch logs. With a dough cutter, cut the gnocchi into 1-inch-square dumplings.
In a pot of boiling water salted to taste like the ocean, boil the gnocchi until they float for about two minutes. In a separate saute pan, brown the butter and add the sage leaves. Using a slotted spoon or spider, remove gnocchi from the pot into the saute pan and saute for a minute until they are coated with brown butter; add lemon and saute for 10 seconds more. Sauce the plates with a pool of the pumpkin puree and then spoon gnocchi on top, along with brown butter and sage leaves. Serve with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.
To kick off our series, Emily and Melissa Elsen cooked up the most traditional of pumpkin recipes: the pie. Of course, theirs is anything but expected. “We were looking to create a characteristically warm, autumnal, can’t-stop-eating-it pumpkin pie, but one that we had never seen done before,” said the sisters, who combined brown sugar and butter for notes of butterscotch. “This seemed to us a like a great combination—butterscotch is rich with a nuttiness that compliments pumpkin well.” The Elsens, who opened the Brooklyn pie shop Four & Twenty Blackbirds in 2010, developed this recipe for their first cookbook, out October 29. It features more than 60 pie recipes, which means they’ve had plenty of practice working out the kinks. “Puree the pumpkin with a food processor for a smoother texture,” they warned. “And don’t over-bake the custard.” Surprising combinations are their strong suit (other examples from the book include Green Chili Chocolate and Black Currant Lemon Chiffon), and pumpkin appears to be the perfect starting canvas. “On its own it leans more savory,” they said. “But it really takes to spices and warm flavors.”
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For the pie
1. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat.
2. Continue to cook; the butter will foam and then begin to turn golden, then nut brown; whisk occasionally.
3. When the butter is nut brown, immediately add the brown sugar, whisk, and then carefully add the water to loosen.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue simmering until a candy thermometer reads 225 degrees. (If you don’t have a candy thermometer, cook until the mixture smells caramelized and starts to darken.)
5. Remove from the heat, slowly add the heavy cream (the mixture will bubble rapidly) and whisk until smooth.
6. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
7. Stir in the vanilla extract.
8. Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
9. Place the prebaked pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet.
10. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and yolks together with the salt. Set aside.
11. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment or in a large bowl using an immersion blender, blend the pumpkin puree with the allspice, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, molasses, and lemon juice until smooth.
12. With the machine running on low, stream the brown-butter butterscotch through the food processor’s feed tube and process until combined.
13. Stream in the egg mixture, followed by the milk and carrot juice; blend until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides with a rubber scraper.
14. Strain the filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a separate bowl, pressing through with a rubber scraper.
15. Pour into the prebaked shell.
16. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45–55 minutes, rotating 180 degrees when the edges start to set, 30–35 minutes through baking.
17. The pie is finished when the edges are set and puffed slightly and the center is no longer liquid but still quite wobbly.
18. Be careful not to over-bake or the custard can separate; the filling will continue to cook and set after the pie is removed from the oven.
19. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack, 2–3 hours.
20. Serve slightly warm, at room temperature, or cool.
21. The pie will keep refrigerated for 2 days or at room temperature for 1 day.
