Liberate the Pumpkin from Pie Purgatory

Don’t get me wrong, I love pumpkin pie. But pumpkin is a fantastic ingredient that is sorely underused, especially considering that canned pumpkin is so easy to use and so good for you. It’s a shame that it’s located in baking aisle and not with the other canned vegetables where it belongs.

I’ve made a lot of savory dishes using this wonder-ingredient (soup, pasta, and risotto, to name just a few). I’ve had the idea of using pumpkin as some sort of coating on chicken breasts for awhile but I had no idea if it would work. I finally got around to trying it and it was even better than I expected! By flouring the chicken breast first, I could pile on the pumpkin and it would stick. A layer of breadcrumbs on top keeps the pumpkin in place. The resulting cutlets taste delicious; the pumpkin flavor is fairly subtle and works very well with the Parmesan cheese and sage in the crispy bread crumb coating. The orange hue looks luscious and healthy (which it is because the pumpkin brings lots of vitamin A to the plate).

This little success has started the ideas for pumpkin recipes flowing. I may even have enough for a small cookbook devoted to this great ingredient. And, yes, I will include a couple of dessert recipes.

Pumpkin-Crusted Chicken (6 servings)

• 1 lb. thinly sliced chicken cutlets or butterflied chicken breasts
• ¼ cup flour
• 1 can pumpkin purée
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp. dried sage
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

1. Put the flour in a shallow dish. Put the pumpkin purée in another shallow dish. In a third shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and sage.
2. Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dredge it in the flour. Then cover it with pumpkin purée. Use your fingers to spread a thick coating across the chicken. Dredge the chicken in the bread crumb and Parmesan cheese mixture.
3. When all the chicken has been coated, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook on medium-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side until the coating is crisp and golden and the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken and place on paper towels to drain excess oil.