I don’t like Halloween—the idea of cultivating fear as an emotion completely escapes me.

BUT, this time of year does bring about a certain euphoria surrounding ornamental squashes. These squashes often end up sold for next to nothing a few days later, especially the Jack O’Lantern variety. While it’s a bit bland, it’s perfectly fine for creating side dishes with the help of some herbs or spices.

Here, I suggest a Cardamom and Rosemary combination, but honestly, this can be adapted in countless ways.

For Two People

• 8 fresh lasagna sheets
• 2 whole sea bass (300 g each) or 4 fillets
• 600 g of Jack O’Lantern pumpkin flesh
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 20 dried rosemary leaves
• 1/2 stalk of fresh onion
• 100 g of Fourme d’Ambert cheese

Instructions

Prepare the sea bass fillets

• Remove the fillets from the fish and carefully debone them.

A quick note about sea bass: The texture and taste vary slightly between farmed and wild fish. For special occasions where the fish is served whole or as fillets, wild sea bass may be worth it. Otherwise, farmed sea bass works perfectly fine.

• Pan-sear the fillets, remove the skin, and set aside.
• (Optional) For a crispy garnish, fry the scaled skin in a little oil and add it as a finishing touch.

Prepare the pumpkin purée

• Cut the pumpkin into 3 cm cubes.
• Cook the pumpkin cubes in gently simmering salted water for 25 minutes.
• Reserve 10 cl of the cooking water, then blend it with the cooked pumpkin until you achieve a smooth purée.
• Grind the cardamom and rosemary into a fine powder, then stir into the pumpkin purée.
• Crumble the sea bass fillets into the purée.

Prepare the onion

• Slice the fresh onion into thin strips.

Assemble the lasagna

• Use two individual gratin dishes for serving.
• Lightly grease the dishes with olive oil to ensure even heat distribution during baking.
• Start with a layer of the filling, then add a few strips of onion before placing the next lasagna sheet on top.
• Repeat this process for four layers.
• Crumble the Fourme d’Ambert cheese over the topmost lasagna sheet.

Bake and serve

• Bake for 20 minutes at 200°C (392°F).
• Serve hot.