RECIPES: A Sukkot menu that celebrates the land’s fall harvest

The harvest festival of Sukkot is a great time to be home for the holidays.

The most obvious reason is that the main symbol of the festival is the sukkah, the decorated outdoor booth that provides families a wonderful opportunity to invite friends and neighbors to share a snack or come together for a meal.

In the spirit of the holiday, dishes should include seasonal fruits and vegetables, along with several kinds of grains, as a reminder of the fall harvest. 

This year, our family and friends will enjoy interesting foods from a menu that is healthful and low in fat, and much of it can be prepared in advance.

Begin with a hearty Holiday Pumpkin Soup, which can double as a great addition to your Thanksgiving dinner. Garnish with a sprinkling of toasted pumpkin seeds that add a crunchy texture, and serve with grain-rich bread made from whole-wheat flour and cornmeal.

Another Sukkot culinary custom is to serve foods filled with rice or other grains. Kreplach, blintzes, cabbage, squash, and other vegetables are perfect examples. But, red bell peppers stuffed with rice and fruit, and baked until tender, are my favorite.

For dessert, lemon-flavored treats always are welcome and refreshing, since lemons are in the same citrus family as the etrog, or citron, one of the four species used ritually during Sukkot. (The other three species are the palm, willow and myrtle.) The lemon cake recipe below uses generous quantities of fresh lemon juice and grated rind for some extra zest. 

HOLIDAY PUMPKIN SOUP

3 tablespoons unsalted butter or nondairy margarine
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic
1 tart apple, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cups pumpkin, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
6 cups vegetable broth or pareve chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Parsley and toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish

In a heavy saucepan, heat butter; add onion and garlic and sauté until tender. Add apple and pumpkin, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes, until tender. Add thyme and 5 cups broth. Bring to boil or until soup thickens.

With a slotted spoon, transfer all of pumpkin mixture to a food processor and process slowly, adding remaining 1 cup of broth until pureed.

Return pureed mixture to saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until soup thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into heated soup bowls and sprinkle with parsley and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Makes about 7 cups.

HARVEST CORN BREAD

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

In the large bowl of a mixer, combine flour, salt, baking powder, 1 cup yellow cornmeal and sugar. Blend well. In a separate bowl, combine milk, oil and egg. Pour into flour mixture, beating until dry ingredients are moist.

Brush an 8-inch-square baking dish with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Pour in batter and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until wood toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on rack and cut into squares.

Makes about 16 squares.

RICE AND FRUIT STUFFED RED BELL PEPPERS

Quick Tomato Sauce (recipe follows)
8 large, sweet red bell peppers
1 1/2 cups uncooked, long-grain rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/3 cup sliced dried prunes
1/3 cup sliced dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups vegetable stock, chicken broth or water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons pine nuts

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Prepare Quick Tomato Sauce; set aside.

Cut off stem ends of peppers (1/2 inch from top), and remove the seeds and inner white ribs. Blanch and invert to drain while preparing filling.

Rinse and soak rice in hot water, covered, for 30 minutes; then drain.

Heat oil in skillet and sauté onion until tender. Add prunes, apricots, parsley, cinnamon, turmeric, stock and drained rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stuff peppers with rice mixture and cover with stem ends of peppers. Cover and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until tender, basting occasionally.

Makes 8 servings.

QUICK TOMATO SAUCE

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins
Salt to taste

In a large pot, combine tomato sauce, water, lemon juice, brown sugar, raisins and salt to taste. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Cover and set aside. 

Makes about 3 cups.

SUKKOT LEMON CAKE

6 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
Powdered sugar for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites at medium speed until foamy. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup of the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl, beat egg yolks until very thick and lemon-colored. Gradually beat in remaining 1 cup of sugar until mixture is smooth. Combine flour and salt and blend into egg-yolks mixture, alternately with lemon juice. Fold in lemon zest. Using a wire whisk or a rubber spatula, fold yolk mixture gently into egg-white mixture. 

Pour batter into ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, until cake springs back with finger. Invert on wire rack and cool completely. Just before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

JUDY ZEIDLER is a food consultant, cooking teacher and author of 10 cookbooks, including “Italy Cooks” (Mostarda Press, 2011). Her website is judyzeidler.com.