pumpkin {mashed}

The other night I was making  pork chops for dinner. A side of cicoria was an easy choice for a vegetable. And, or course, my go-to starch for pork chop night is mashed potatoes. But this was a non-starter (non-starcher?) since we’ve sworn off carbs for February.

Since I had a gorgeous slice of pumpkin, I decided zucca al forno would be an acceptable alternative. I could cut it into little cubes, stick them in a hot hot oven, and they’d come out all golden and crispy. And we could sort of pretend they were potatoes.

Even though the pumpkin did look and smell delicious once it came out of the oven, I just couldn’t get my mind off the whole mashed potato thing. Pork chops need a comfort food kind of side dish, right?

So into the food processor went the pumpkin, along with butter and just enough cream to make it all silky and luscious.

And before I knew it, carbs were the last thing on our minds.

 
mashed pumpkin

1 pound / 1/2 kilo of pumpkin (or any kind of sweetish winter squash)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2.5 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cream
Salt and pepper

Pre heat oven to 200C / 400F

Peel the pumpkin and cut it into 1 inch cubes. Lay them out in one layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle the oil over them, and you your hand to make sure all the cubes are coated well. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Place in oven and cook for about 25 minutes, or until edges start to turn dark, and the pumpkin is tender.

Take out and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Place pumpkin in food processor along with butter and cream. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.

You can make this ahead of time, and reheat. Give it a good stir before serving, since the butter and cream tends to bleed out from the pumpkin. (Since, although it seems starchy, it’s not).