Savory Pumpkin Casserole Recipe with Herbs (2024)

FAQs

What flavors go best with pumpkin? ›

To complement pumpkin with sweet flavor pairings, consider using spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla, or sweet ingredients like chocolate, maple, honey, cranberries or brown sugar. Create savory dishes by pairing pumpkin with spices like chilies, cajun, cayenne or pepper.

Just add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼ teaspoon each of ground cloves and ground nutmeg, and you'll be well on your way to making our pumpkin pie dip, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate pumpkin cheesecake.

Pumpkin is notorious for pairing well with warm winter spices – as found in a variety of Moroccan-inspired cuisines. Try incorporating cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cumin and chilli with your pumpkin dishes for flavour-packed feasts.

Pumpkin, roasted with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper, can taste like fall in your mouth, but in the way that says, “I'm fancier than that latte.” Cumin is like a flavor cousin to cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, which means that it's also absolutely delicious with pumpkin.

The Sugar Pie Pumpkin is often considered the crème de la crème of cooking pumpkins. Its deep orange flesh is sweet, smooth, and creamy, making it perfect for pies, soups, and purees. This culinary gem pairs beautifully with warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, creating irresistible autumnal flavors.

Mandarin oranges have a distinct flavor profile that make them easy to use in many different recipes. But one pairing you might not have considered is the pumpkin. You can taste for yourself with our Foodpairing-inspired dessert creation: Pumpkin Ice Cream with Mandarin oranges and Chocolate mousse.

Blue cheeses like gorgonzola team up well with the notes of dried fruit typical of pumpkin.

Now if your pie tends to come out bland, you may not be letting your spices hit their full potential. Joy Wilson of Joy the Baker suggests, "To get the most festive flavor out of the spices in your pumpkin pie, bloom the spices with the pumpkin puree in a small saucepan before incorporating into the filling.

If the recipe doesn't use enough spice, or if the spices were old enough to have lost much of their flavour, or if the mixture isn't well balanced, then the pie is not going to taste right and could be quite bland.

What does milk do to pumpkins? ›

Milk has calcium in it, pumpkins like calcium as it allows them to uptake various nutrients. Maybe that's where the connection is for people. Good well rounded article, pointing out the potential benefits and the downsides to feeding with milk, and gives a guide to doing this if you want to try it.

When shopping for pumpkins, look for the ones usually generically labeled “sugar pumpkins” or “pie pumpkins.” Some specific names are Baby Pam, Autumn Gold, Ghost Rider, New England Pie Pumpkin, Lumina (which are white), Cinderella, and Fairy Tale.

The best type of pumpkin for cooking and baking

Instead, I recommend using a pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkin (pictured above). During the fall and winter seasons, most stores will have them available. Try to pick pumpkins between 3-6 pounds — that's usually when the flesh is best.

Like all sweet and creamy textures, pumpkin loves the savoury flavour of bacon, fried until crisp and sprinkled on top of a pumpkin and potato puree. Grilled pork goes well with pumpkin. Beef is also a great protein for pumpkin dishes.

Companion planting pumpkins with heat-tolerant, pollinator-attracting neighbors can help them manage. Aromatic herbs like oregano, chives, chamomile, marjoram, tansy, and hyssop.

Pumpkin Pie

The hallmark of the holiday dessert table. To make your pumpkin pie taste shiny and bright, pair it with an Oloroso Sherry. Sweet and nutty, this fortified Spanish dessert wine will enhance the addictive autumn flavor of your pumpkin pie. Another great pairing for pumpkin pie is Tawny Port.

While you might be tempted to grow pumpkins with other cucurbit vegetables, such as cucumbers, squash, and zucchini, this isn't a good idea. These plants are all heavy feeders competing for soil nutrients and space, and they're prone to the same pests, like squash bugs.