Farro Stuffed Pumpkins
A perfectly playful addition to your holiday table.
The Playfully Decadent Table
Unexpected twists to classic holiday foods are guaranteed to make a table merry and bright
The holiday feast is always filled with traditional sides, family favourites and classic dishes. It’s hard to find a table without a turkey or ham, potatoes, yams and all the fixings. But while some food traditions need never be trifled with—like my grandmother's three-ingredient Scottish shortbread that are more butter than anything else (even my daughter’s insistence of adding sprinkles doesn’t fly very well)—other traditions are ready for a little update, personalization and innovation. I love adding play and joy into the holiday table, wherever it can sparkle, by honouring the favourites with a tasty and delicious update.
Speaking of sparkling up the holidays, one of my favourite ways to add sparkle to a table is by adding some edible gold. I love making a rich orange brandy infused cranberry sauce and adding a touch of orange zest and gold flakes before serving. The jewelled colours perfectly match the flavour intensity and the gold elevates the presentation to a conversation piece for the table. I usually find 24 karat gold flakes at specialty food stores around the holidays and the price is not exorbitant, especially compared to the delight it brings to the table.
A more homely centrepiece, potatoes are a necessary holiday table addition that come in every shape and size. Scalloped, twice-baked, Hasselback cooked with toasted, thinly sliced garlic and topped with parmesan—all versions are delicious. A playful update I’ve found is to transform dutchess potatoes into little evergreen trees. Since it’s a holiday meal and we’re going for playful decadence, whip in some cream cheese along with the butter to add extra complexity. Pipe the potatoes onto a parchment-covered cookie sheet, or into a buttered baking dish, making them high and pointed, like a tree. Brush with butter or drizzle with olive oil and bake them to add a lovely crisp exterior, until the points are golden. Add sprigs and leaves of rosemary to make them each look like little trees. A dusting of parmesan grated with a fine microplane right before serving offers the appearance of snow.
Parker house rolls are another staple on our table, but when they come out of the oven, I brush them with pesto compound butter, which is so simple to create: just whip ½ cup of butter with 2 Tbsp of basil pesto until well combined. This adds a lovely green hue to the rolls and kicks the flavour up. Then sprinkle with diced sundried tomatoes or pomegranate seeds to add a touch of holiday colour to the golden rolls. If you really want to get into the festive theme, rather than using a standard pan for the Parker House rolls, I form them into the shape of a holiday tree on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Use four small balls of dough for the trunk in a square, then start with 6 small dough balls as the first row, and decrease the dough balls by 2 for each row above. Let them rise into each other, and bake as directed in the recipe. Kids especially love tucking into the tree of rolls, brushed with the pesto butter and decorated like a holiday tree.
Stuffing is often a favourite part of the holiday meal—only made once a year and decadently delicious, whether you like apple and onion, or olive and sausage, or wild mushroom and fennel or any other delightful combination of ingredients, soaked in butter and bread. The presentation on the other hand, is less than ideal; no matter the version, a "blah" brown dish lands on the table. Yes, it is devoured, but only because we know how delicious it is, not because it’s beautiful. To add some much-needed visual elegance, spray a large muffin tin with non-stick spray, then line each cup with prosciutto, to make a small basket for the stuffing. Add a heaping scoop full of your favourite prepared, uncooked stuffing into each muffin cup and bake until the stuffing is cooked through, puffed and golden. Carefully remove each stuffing basket from the oven and place on a serving platter. Top with diced dried apricots, dried cranberries and a crumble of bacon or minced crisped prosciutto, and a dusting of grated parmesan. These can pop in the oven while the turkey or ham is resting and be served piping hot with gravy drippings. The sweetness of the dried fruit paired with the salty prosciutto is the perfect complement to any stuffing recipe.
Speaking of stuffing, I love adding stuffed mini pumpkins, or small acorn squash to a table. Edible decadence, and so much beauty. If you cut an acorn squash in half across the ribs, parallel to the stem, it looks like a flower and offers a deep cup for plenty of stuffing. I always make a small cut top and bottom to make the bases level and stable enough to sit on a baking sheet. If stuffed with wild rice, faro or another hearty grain and jewelled with dried fruit or pomegranate seeds, this is also a lovely vegetarian- or vegan-hearty main course option for those at your table forgoing a meat-based protein. They are beautiful and add a delightful pop of colour to the table.
The abundance of a delicious, overflowing table will never disappoint during the holidays. Here on the West Coast, we are blessed with such a wealth of beautiful food. As we create, play and enjoy all that Mother Earth has blessed us with, I hope your holiday table is filled with laughter, joy and play as new memories are made, traditions created and dishes devoured with love.
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