Dessert: Pumpkin Ginger Rice Pudding

Caramelizing the top of this pudding adds an extra depth of flavor, but it's equally delicious without doing it.A blowtorch works best here; the broiler didn't give us the uniform browning we wanted.

Ingredients

1 (1 1/2- to 2-pound) piece pumpkin or butternut squash, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2/3 cup long-grain white rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 cups whole milk
8 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (2 ounces)
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar such as Sugar in the Raw (optional)
Special equipment: a blowtorch (optional)

Instructions

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450 °F.
Arrange each piece of pumpkin, cut side up, on a sheet of foil. Top each with 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Wrap separately in foil and bake, cut sides up, in a shallow baking pan until flesh is tender, about 1 hour.
Open foil and cool pumpkin slightly, then scoop flesh into a food processor and purée until smooth.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 °F.

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