Pumpkin & Gorgonzola Galette

In September while wandering around the charming small town of Occoquan, Virginia, my mom really needed a break so I found her a comfy chair in a darling bookstore that sells only cookbooks called Salt & Pepper. Mom rested while my sisters and I poked around intent on buying something to show our appreciation of the hospitality. I found a book called Pumpkin: A Super Food for All 12 Months of the Year by DeeDee Stovel. This cookbook was the inspiration for this entire blog. I was really pumped to start cooking with pumpkin and someone suggested I write a blog about it. And it snowballed from there...

I intended to make every one of DeeDee's yummy sounding recipes starting at the front and working my way through. But other pumpkin cookbooks were located, and the internet, with its archives of magazine recipes, produced hundreds of recipes to try. At last count I have a backlog of 550 recipes using pumpkin.

This light lunch or heavy hors d'oeuvres recipe is adapted from DeeDee's Blue Cheese and Pumpkin Galette recipe. I changed it for three reasons: 1. I find it easier to dice pumpkin, toss it with seasoning and then roast. Less chance of ending up with mush, 2. I had some leftover Gorgonzola to use up, and 3. I like to use already made pie crusts.

Pumpkin & Gorgonzola Galette

1 1/2 pounds fresh pumpkin, diced small
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup minced shallots (1 large)
1 tsp crumbled dried sage
salt & pepper
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 homemade or already made 15-inch pastry crust
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola (3-4 oz)
1 egg white
2 tbsp grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss diced pumpkin with salt, pepper and sage. Roast on baking sheet for 15 minutes. Melt 1/2 tbsp of butter in large skillet over medium heat. Cook the shallots in the butter for about 2 minutes, then add roasted pumpkin and heat for 1 minute.

In a medium skillet, melt another 1/2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Stir in nuts and breadcrumbs and cook for about 2 minutes until they begin to brown.

To assemble galette, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully place the dough circle on it. (If using already made pie crusts, this will require you to stretch or roll out the crust to 15 inches.) Sprinkle the nut/crumb mixture in the center of the crust, leaving an edge of about 2 inches. Arrange pumpkin/shallots mixture over the crumbs and scatter the Gorgonzola on top.

Fold the edges of the dough over the filling. Brush the dough with egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned. Slide slightly cooled galette onto a cutting board or serving platter before cutting into slices.