Crostata di Zucca Invernale e Rhum con Cioccolato Amaro

• 1 recipe tart crust (page 216), substituting dark rum, well chilled, for the sweet wine
• 1 3- to 4-pound piece Hubbard squash, butternut squash, or pumpkin, seeds removed (these left to dry for later roasting)
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons sweet butter, plus additional as needed
• 1/3 cup dark rum
• 8 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate, preferably Lindt or Valrhona 70% cacao
• Confectioners sugar
• Heavy cream or mascarpone (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. On a metal baking sheet, roast the squash until its flesh is tender and collapsingabout 1/2 hour.
3. Remove the squash from the oven and permit it to cool until you can comfortably scrape the flesh from its shell.
4. Set the flesh aside.
5. Over a gentle flame, heat the sugar in a large saute pan, stirring constantly, until it takes on a very dark, golden color.
6. Add the squash and roll it around in the caramel.
7. Because the squash will be colder than the caramel, the caramel will seize and harden, but after a moment or two over the gentle flame, it will melt.
8. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and the rum, combining the components well.
9. Turn out the squash mixture into a bowl to cool thoroughly.
10. Meanwhile, butter a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and line it with the pastry, covering the pastry-lined pan with plastic wrap and placing it in the freezer for 20 minutes or in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
11. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
12. Coarsely chop the extra-bittersweet chocolate and combine it with the squash mixture.
13. Spread the squash/chocolate mixture over the well-chilled, unbaked pastry and bake the tart for 15 minutes.
14. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake the tart for an additional 25 minutes or until the pastry is deeply golden.
15. Permit the tart to cool a bit on a rack, then dust it with confectioners sugar and present it, very warm, with unsweetened, barely whipped cream or a bowlful of mascarpone, should you wish.

crust, butternut squash, sugar, sweet butter, dark rum, extrabittersweet chocolate, confectioners sugar, heavy cream

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/crostata-di-zucca-invernale-e-rhum-con-cioccolato-amaro-391167 (may not work)