Squash

When you’ve worked with food as long as I have, and have come up with as many desserts as I have, you get to a certain point where many of the dishes you construct are compilations of things you’ve done previously. When we opened Mozza, I had done a cream-filled date tart that I really loved, so I urged Dahlia to rearrange some of its components, and to her credit she came up with this sophisticated rendition of pumpkin pie. We serve it with walnut cookies that are a twist on a Greek walnut cookie that I included in a previous book. Pumpkin purée is one of the few canned items that I endorse, the reason being that it is totally pure—there are no weird ingredients in it, just pumpkin. Also, from my experience, roasting a pumpkin and puréeing it myself doesn’t yield more delicious results than canned. You will need an 11-inch flan ring (a straight-sided bottomless tart ring) to make this.

Be sure to let the brine cool completely before pouring it over the thinly sliced vegetables. If submerged in hot liquid, the zucchini and onions will quickly turn soggy and won’t retain their shape or texture during pickling.

We used apple juice to sweeten the bread, but this recipe is equally tasty made with orange juice or cranberry juice.

If you do not have a doughnut cutter, use a 3-inch cookie cutter to cut out the doughnuts and a 1-inch cookie cutter to cut out the centers.

If yellow zucchini are unavailable, you can use all green zucchini to make this pie.

You can use shredded Monterey Jack cheese in place of the cotija and queso blanco. Other wild mushrooms, such as shiitakes, can be substituted for the porcini.

Purchase high-quality pistachios, and pick through the nuts for the greenest ones. After roasting, rub the nuts between your palms to eliminate as much of the brown skin as possible.

If you prefer to omit the bourbon, simply double the amount of hot water.