Mostly Wholesome

Crafting Kitchen Confidence

Mains

Rosemary Squash Fusilli

Corinne and I bought a fat ugly peanut pumpkin (AKA Galeux d’Eysines) early in October that pureed down to like 3.5 gallon sized Ziploc bags worth of pumpkin. That’s a lot of pumpkin by most standards, even for pumpkin lovers. Corinne isn’t a pumpkin lover and I have historically LOVED one piece of pumpkin pie, one piece of pumpkin bread, and maybe one pumpkin spice latte per season before getting over it.

Much like our one-eared cat or favorite busted up coffee mug; this peanut pumpkin was ugly, rejected, and instantly won over my heart. I knew it was destined for deliciousness. The folks at Whole Foods didn’t even know what it was, how to charge for it at first, or why I could possibly want such a hideous warty monster, which was oddly satisfying for me…

Anyway – even though we made all that puree to experiment with various breads, cakes, and other sweets – this little pasta dish proved to be our absolute favorite use of the squash. It is creamy without being heavy, flavorful without being overwhelming, and filling without making you lethargic. It’s like the perfect comfort food for when you don’t have a couch to immediately crash on afterwards.

I definitely recommend sticking with the fusilli pasta style (although I suspect tagliatelle would also work well), because those little corkscrews do a magical job at capturing all that creamy squashy goodness in every bite. As for the sausage, it is completely optional and this would make a very hearty vegetarian dish, I personally enjoy the added texture and flavor.

Buttercrust Deep Dish Pizza

I won’t call this a Lou Malnati’s copycat recipe to hopefully save Corinne and I from the perpetual recipe battle found online about this topic. But this is a Lou’s copycat recipe. And we think it’s pretty damn tasty.

I slightly modified a recipe found in the comments section of a question posed on the Serious Eats website about a good buttercrust recipe. In my research on the subject (which consisted of reading the comments section of recipe posts and watching the Lou Malnati’s ingredient series on Youtube) I came across a couple of myth’s that I am going to venture to address:

  1. Corn Oil = Cheap Alternative to Olive Oil
    Most folks online seem to be confident that several Chicago establishments use corn oil in their dough. It also seems like many believe that this is for cost reasons. I would have assumed the same had it not been for one comment (source pending) that I saw mentioning that the corn oil actually helps impart that buttery nuttiness that makes buttercrust a buttercrust. I decided to give it a gamble and used a mixture of fats – 3 Tbsp corn oil, 2 tsp good olive oil, greased the pan with butter – voila.
  2. Fresh Mozzarella = Good Mozzarella
    This is one I learned while trying to make Nepoletana pizza a few years ago. That dream died after realizing my crappy little Milwaukee apartment’s oven simply didn’t have the heat to melt fresh mozzarella properly. To be fair, fresh mozzarella is AMAZING, but it is not the only amazing type of mozzarella. The aged alternative, firm and creamy, is the way to go for any pizza. Lou’s sources their cheese from an artisan in Wisconsin, I source mine from a cheese monger in Eastern Market, you can source yours from anywhere you find mozzarella you like – just don’t use the fresh stuff!
  3. Cornmeal = Crunchy Golden Crust
    I don’t blame anyone for thinking that cornmeal would be used for a golden color and extra crispy crust – after all, corn bread is both of those things in a big way. BUT, I think it is safe to say no cornmeal is required or recommended for Chicago deep dish. Use All Purpose flour (I use White Lily, being the blind follower of Kenji that I am), and if you miss the golden color, toss in a pinch of turmeric or yellow food coloring.

I wouldn’t call my research intensive with any seriousness, but it was apparently enough to pull off a pie that made this Chicago suburbanite feel a little closer to the Midwest on this aptly stifling but gorgeous summer night.