Filling
•Preheat oven to 300°. Purée ricotta, mascarpone, sugar, eggs yolks, 1 egg, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a food processor until smooth. Scrape most of ricotta filling into a large bowl, leaving about 1/2 cup of filling in processor. Add remaining egg, pumpkin purée, brown sugar, cream, cardamom, and remaining 1/4 tsp. salt to processor; purée until smooth. Scrape filling into a medium bowl. Pour ricotta filling over cooled crust. Spoon pumpkin filling over. Using a spoon, gently swirl the 2 fillings in 6–7 places.
• Put cake pan in a large roasting pan. Add hot water to come halfway up sides of cake pan. Cover roasting pan tightly with foil.
• Bake cake for 1 hour. Open foil carefully to release steam. Reseal foil and continue baking, opening foil to release steam every 15 minutes, until cheesecake is set around the edges and jiggles slightly in the center when nudged, 45 minutes–1 hour longer.
• Remove cake pan from roasting pan. Carefully unwrap outer foil from pan. Chill cake at least 6 hours. Do Ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled. Run a thin knife around inside of pan to release cake. Remove pan sides.
Roasted Pumpkin and Thyme Soup with Gruyere Cheese
A smooth and comforting soup, embellished with melting Gruyere cheese. This is delicious served with a pumpkin seed pesto bread.
INGREDIENTS
• 5 lbs piece of pumpkin or squash
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/8 cup butter
• 2 medium onions – chopped
• The leaves from 6 sprigs of thyme, plus extra leaves to garnish
• 7 cups light chicken or vegetable stock
• 1.25 cups double or single cream
• ¾ cup Gruyere cheese – coarsely grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F
Peel the pumpkin or squash, scoop away the fibres and seeds and cut the flesh into chunky pieces. Put them into a large roasting tin with the olive oil and some seasoning and toss together well. Spread them out in an even layer and roast for 30 – 40 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in the casserole and add the onions, half the thyme leaves and some seasoning. Cover and cook gently for about 10 minutes until the onion is very soft but not browned.
Add the roasted pumpkin to the pan with the stock, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Leave the soup to cool slightly then blend in a food processor or liquidiser with the rest of the thyme leaves, until smooth. Return the casserole to a medium – low heat and bring back to a gentle simmer. Stir in the cream and adjust the seasoning to taste.
Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and swirl in the remaining cream. Pile some of the grated cheese into the centre, scatter with the extra thyme leaves and serve.