Pumpkin Sformato

In keeping with the Italian them for this menu, I've made this sformato which seems to more or less be an italian soufflé. I did my best to plate and photograph it before it sunk much but it is very light and delicate in texture and doesn't last very long in its puffed state. The fried sage idea I stole from Mario Batali, and it's great because it just disintegrates in your mouth, and you get all that sage flavor as it does so.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1 Small Soup Pumpkin
• 1 Large Turnip
• 3C Pumpkin Purée
• 1/4 Recipe Sauce Béchamel
• 1/2C Gruyere Cheese, Grated
• 1/2C Mascarpone Cheese
• 3 Eggs
• 2 Eggs, separated
• 1/2tsp Salt
• 1/4tsp Black Pepper
• 8 Sage Leaves
• 1 Sage Leaf, chopped fine
• Salt TT
• Black Pepper TT

Procedure

• Cut the skin off of your pumpkin with a chef's knife.
• With a melonballer, cut balls from the flesh.
• Sauté in butter until just developing some color, season with salt and pepper, and then put in the oven to finish. 10-20 minutes. Reserve. If your pan is not oven-safe, make sure whatever vessel holds the pumpkin in the oven allows enough room for them to rest in a single layer.
• Peel the turnip with a paring knife. It can also be peeled with a vegetable peeler, but it will likely be necessary to go over everything twice since the skin and wax on a supermarket turnip is usually so thick.
• Follow the same procedure for the turnip as for the pumpkin. Reserve both.

• Preheat the oven to 375°.
• Grease 4 ramekins with butter and dust with grated parmesano-reggiano cheese.
• Make Sauce Béchamel as per the recipe, quartering all the ingredients. While still hot, add your gruyere and melt in.
• Mix the base of the dish; pumpkin purée, mascarpone, 3 whole eggs, 2 yolks, salt and pepper. Mix all these and add the béchamel last.

• Whip the 2 egg whites to soft peak stage with a tiny pinch of cream of tartar or your acid of choice.
• Fold them into your base, carefully running the spatula down the middle of the mixture and then lifitng it around the side. This is done in order to keep from deflating the eggs whites by overmixing.

• Pour the mix into the ramekins and place in a pan in the oven. Cooking will take about 30 minutes.
• Heat up an inch of oil in a pan on the stovetop to around 300°. If you don't have a thermometer, just get it to the point where it bubbles when you stick a sage leaf into it.
• Fry 8 of the sage leaves in the oil for about 10 seconds, and remove. Drain on a rack.

• Reheat the pumpkin and turnip garnish by tossing with some butter in a hot pan. Add the chopped sage. Check the seasoning.
• Remove the ramekins from the oven when the tops have puffed and begin to turn golden brown, and plate with the pumpkin and turnips. Serve immediately with parmesano-reggiano grated over the whole plate.