[title]
Pumpkin pie runs circles around other options this time of year (and none other; try eating a slice in June, it cannot be done), and one NYC pizza chain by way of Detroit is squashing narrow notions of the gourd’s appeal in a hyper-seasonal mashup across its locations.
Emmy Squared will serve its pumpkin “pie” until Sunday, November 26.
“In order to remain fun and creative, we wanted to add playful items to celebrate fall and Thanksgiving,” Emmy Squared president Pennington Pribbenow says via email. “Pumpkin is a beloved flavor during this time of year, and is something that translates well with our flavors.”
Pribbenow authored the limited-run recipe, which tops the Motor City-style rectangular base with mozzarella, ricotta, spiced pumpkin, roasted pepitas and sage. He also created a fried pumpkin ravioli and a pumpkin spice espresso martini for the occasion.
“The only item that had some trial and error was the pizza,” Pribbenow says. “Pumpkin can be overly sweet if not handled properly. In order to get the combination of savory, creamy and robust flavors, we used salt, pepitas, seasoned pumpkin and ricotta to get it just right.”
That pumpkin is a sugar variety, also called winter squash, smaller than your standard bodega jack-o'-lantern class and familiar from actual pumpkin pies—the non-pizza kind. Like in its sweet doppelgänger, the fruit here is amplified by cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and sugar.
All Emmy pizzas are baked at 500 degrees for nine minutes, but this one’s pièce de résistance is added after the oven.
“The layering of the pumpkin pizza is important,” Pribbenow says. “The pumpkin is added post-bake to preserve the flavor and color, so when you take a bite, you taste the pumpkin before anything else.”