To create magma, you simply roast sweet red peppers, along with a starchy squash like kabocha, and blend with olive oil, garlic and salt. The resulting puree is thick, and after some time will set up downright stiff thanks to the pectin in both squash a peppers. Pectin is a carbohydrate that jam makers use to thicken their product, and makes the magma as stiff as pudding.
Like its namesake, Magma sauce comes from the earth, but the surface rather than the depths like true molten lava. Forged from roasted red peppers and baked squash, Magma imparts the sweetness of both, with a near-piquant undertone that makes you cringe like you’re about to get slapped, but it doesn’t deliver. Instead you get kissed, with possibly a lipstick red mark left on your face.
Kabocha, also known as Japanese pumpkin, is a versatile and delicious winter squash. The flavor is starchy and sweet, with a firm body that can handle being cooked many ways, from tempura-fried to roasted to steamed to sweet purees. The seeds are plump. The hard skin is edible. The squash experience is complete.
This grumpy farmer who lives in the foothills south of town brings the most amazing produce to market. I call him Mr. Sunshine. His blustery attitude practically dares marketgoers to buy his vegetables each Saturday.
