Savory Pumpkin Pancetta Waffles with greens and eggs

I haven’t had to pull out all the stops, and all of my party tricks to host brunch and dinner guests this year. In some ways it’s been a luxury to let the dishes pile and air dry on the kitchen counter and I’ve been a little lazy about keeping champagne cold in the fridge because there’s no one here to help me finish the bottle.

I feel like I’m juuuuust starting to feel comfortable gathering in small groups in my little backyard.  We have birthdays and job changes and engagements to make up for with celebration, as humble as a little backyard gathering may be.

My backyard gathering is a perfect excuse to flex one of my party hosting tricks: waffles! It doesn’t matter the time of day or the occasion – a waffle is always appropriate. Dress it up, dress it down. As long as there’s a stack of plenty and loads of good toppings, a waffle makes a party.

Our post today is brought to you by my friends at All-Clad.  I’m using their 4-Slice Gourmet Digital Waffle Maker to make these perfectly crisp and fluffy savory pumpkin waffles.  It helps to have a waffle maker that is sleek and smart, easy to clean and just a workhorse whether it’s waffles for one or waffles for a few in the little ol’ backyard.

Let’s waffle!

Here’s what you’ll need for this waffle adventure:

•  flour and cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda, a good sprinkle of sugar and a few good pinches of salt.

•  eggs, pumpkin puree, buttermilk, and a few tablespoons of melted butter to turn the dry ingredients to batter. Waffles are amiable like that.

•  grated gruyere cheese and sautéed pancetta cubes to take these savory waffles from good to truly great.

•  maple syrup and whole grain mustard to make a spread to top the cooked waffles

•  kale we’ll saute with a bit of garlic if you’d like.

•  eggs we’ll soft boil and seeds we’ll toast to top.

Really though these waffles are super versatile. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand you could make some. If you don’t have gruyere or pancetta, grated cheddar and cooked Italian sausage will also be nice. If you don’t have kale, spinach is also wonderful.

Feel free to use what you have. Cooking for a friend feels special no matter what these days.

We’ll start by combining the wet ingredients.

In a bowl whisk together the eggs and pumpkin puree until smooth and thick.

Whisk in the buttermilk and melted butter. You’ll find everything thick and evenly combined and that’s just the way it should be.

Next, whisk together the dry ingredients.

I have all-purpose flour in a bowl with fine cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Give it a whisk.  Evenly combining ingredients is a baker’s secret, and it’s an important one.

Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry and stir just to incorporate.

But before the batter is fully combined, toss in the fried pancetta pieces and finely grated gruyere cheese.

If you had any doubts about a savory pumpkin waffle, you can set them aside exactly right now.

Now – we waffle!

Having this All-Clad 4-Slice Gourmet Digital Waffle Maker in my kitchen arsenal is a game changer.  It has me wanting to waffle every meal. With this dream machine I can make fluffy-on-the-inside and crisp-on-the-outside waffles

I like my waffles about the size on my palm so I scoop the batter into the waffle maker by the 1/4-cupful.

I can set the waffles to the Buttermilk setting and step away while they cook knowing the timer will chime when the waffles are perfect.  In the meantime, the waffle maker vents steam from the sides and back, keeping our waffles crisp.

While the waffles cook, let’s whip up the toppings.

To top our eggs, I cooked up a few soft boiled eggs.

And quick saute a few handfuls of kale in a splash of olive oil.

To serve, drizzle each waffle with maple mustard, top with warm wilted greens and a soft egg.

Sprinkle with salt and seeds.  And take a quick little taste test before you carry the plates outside for a celebrate-all gathering.

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