Quick Dinner Recipe: Pumpkin & Ricotta Pasta Casserole Everyone loves a good casserole, right? The key word here is good. We've all had goopy, unappetizing messes inflicted upon us in the name of casseroles, but that really should be the deviation — not the norm. This casserole includes many of my favorite casserole elements. But the real thing I love about casseroles like these is their convenience. If you don't have pumpkin puree in your cupboard, what about a can of sweet potatoes instead? Pumpkin & Ricotta Pasta Casserole serves 6 Olive oil1 pound pasta, such as farfalle, small shells, or elbowsOne 15-ounce container ricottaOne 15-ounce can pumpkin puree2 eggs1/2 cup yogurt2 teaspoons saltFreshly ground black pepper1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg1/2 teaspoon ground ginger3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped1/2 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves, finely chopped2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped3/4 cup grated Parmesan, divided Heat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, pureed pumpkin, eggs, and yogurt. Enjoy!
TWICE-BAKED SWEET POTATOES, THANKSGIVING WINS Over the weekend, some friends and I hosted a Friendsgiving at my house. It’s a winning Thanksgiving strategy: instead of the immense pressure on the host to prepare so many dishes, people bring their favorite sides and desserts, the host takes care of the bird, and everybody is happy. It was a tremendous success; every plate was cleaned and the turkey was devoured! (No turkey and cranberry sandwiches for us!) One of my favorite dishes that evening was a simple twice-baked sweet potato. Last week on Etsy I wrote about a lovely, simple way to use your holiday leftovers: in Turkey, Apple and Cheddar Handpies. As for the bird, I used Martha Stewart’s brine followed by Gourmet’s high heat roasting method (nixing the salt as it was already brined) for a second year with great results. And let’s end this debate, once and for all: there are no yams in North America. TWICE BAKED SWEET POTATOESServes 12 as a Thanksgiving or party side; 4-6 as a substantial dinner side Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pumpkin Hummus When cans of pumpkin go flying off supermarkey shelfs and people starts freaking out because there won’t be any pumpkin pie this year, I really just have to sit back and laugh. Don’t get me wrong, I buy canned pumpkin on occasion but when push comes to shove, making pumpkin puree is so easy (and taste better in my opinion.) I don’t see pumpkins just for halloween carving fun (I grew up not knowing you could actually eat pumpkins…) Instead, I see delicious meals out of each one of them and the pumpkin I picked up at the farmer’s market was perfect for hummus. Seasonal pumpkin hummus. Because of the cinnamon and nutmeg, I find this hummus makes for a delicious fall snack and almost has a slightly sweet taste to it (even though there isn’t sugar in it!) I love fall, I really do! Pumpkin Hummus Total time Author: Erin Alderson Recipe type: Appetizers Serves: 2 Ingredients 1 medium pumpkin 1 can garbanzo beans 1 teaspoon tahini 1 tablespoon sunflower oil 2 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon nutmeg Instructions
Orzo with Caramelized Fall Vegetables & Ginger This is also a satisfying dish to eat — there's no meat, and it's even vegan, if you leave off the final sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. But I would happily serve this to a crowd of dedicated meat-eaters; it's one of these dishes that really spans a group of various preferences. I have a slideshow here with photos, too, of most of the steps in the process, showing you how I caramelized each ingredient, then pushed them aside to soften and cook down while I went on to the next one. Orzo Caramelized with Fall Vegetables & Ginger serves 4 as a main dish and 6 as a side dish Heat a large pot of water to boiling and salt it generously. Peel the sweet potato and dice it finely into cubes about 1/4 to 1/2 inch to a side. Turn the heat down to medium and push the sweet potatoes up in a pile against one side of the pan. Add the diced shiitake mushrooms to the hot center of the pan and cook them for 4 minutes without turning them. Whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons of oil.
Sweet and Sour Grilled Pumpkin Recipe It’s been quite a while since I’ve shared any recipes from Sicily, hasn’t it? I learned this Zucca Gialla in Agrodolce, or Pumpkin in Sweet and Sour Sauce, in a cooking class I took from my friends Alberto and Liliana in Catania. In the version I learned, the pumpkin slices were sauteed in olive oil rather than grilled, but I decided to put my own twist on it today! I’m wondering if there are any people out there who bought a few sugar pumpkins this year with the intention of finally making homemade pumpkin puree for their Thanksgiving pies. I did. And no, I never got around to baking those pumpkin pies from scratch. I have the original recipe somewhere around here, along with the other recipes I learned from Alberto and Liliana. For those of you who don’t live in San Diego, land of year-round grilling, you may revert to the original recipe and brown the pumpkin slices in olive oil rather than cooking them on the grill. Cut the pumpkin in half and scrape out the insides. Save Recipe 1.
Baked Sweet Potato with Greens Whole Living, January/February January/February 2013 Yield Serves 2 Add to Shopping List Ingredients 2 pricked sweet potatoes 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 thinly sliced small onion 1 stemmed and chopped bunch Swiss chard Coarse salt 1 sliced avocado, divided Cayenne Lemon Directions Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cook's Note Refrigerate potatoes and greens in an airtight container up to two days. Recipe for whole wheat pizza with pumpkin, black beans and caramelized onions Does it take a global village to make a pizza? Yes, in the case of this whole wheat pizza with pumpkin, black beans and caramelized onions. The "dough", a piece of whole wheat Indian naan, gets smeared with pumpkin puree (American), sprinkled with black beans (South American), and topped with caramelized onions (French, oui oui) and Italian parmesan or asiago cheese. We added a bit of garlic-and-onion chicken sausage; you could substitute leftover cooked turkey, or omit the meat altogether. The only oil comes with the onions, which you can make days ahead of time. Whole wheat pizza with pumpkin, black beans and caramelized onions From the pantry, you'll need: canned black beans (or cooked black beans), onions, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, chicken sausage, sea salt, fresh black pepper, extra virgin olive oil. Makes 2 pizzas (serves 4). Ingredients Directions Preheat oven to 425°F. In a nonstick frying pan, place the red onion and olive oil. Set the naan breads on the baking sheet.
Healthy Sweet Potato Skins These healthy sweet potato skins! They’re baaaaack! click here to Pin this recipe These little guys were my first “viral” recipe originally published in October of 2011 – and today, April 25th, 2015, I’m bringing them back to life and dying with food happiness all over again. These healthy sweet potato skins are one of my all-time blog favorites – and they’re a reader favorite, too! They’re stuffed with a creamy sweet potato shallot filling with spinach and chickpeas to bump up the yummy health factor and then they are topped with a tiny bit of melty cheese and baked to sweet potato skin perfection. Yeah – theeeeese are goooood. In case you love throwbacks, this is how they looked originally: Do you know that I’ve actually never done this until now? I updated the pictures, but I decided not doing anything with my old writing from the original post — I’ll just put a line in so you know when Young Me takes over the writing. Haha / yikes. Old stuff starts now. Well, it happened. PS. Description
Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal This fall has had great weather and beautiful color, I just wish I wasn’t so busy that I could have enjoyed it more! However, gone are the long football games, one of my classes, and a lot of the hectic scheduling of marching band. It is smooth sailing to Thanksgiving break! With the temperatures dipping into the thirties, I have hit that point where getting out of bed is that much harder (I finally caved and turned on my heat.) This recipe is perfect if you have a little left over homemade pumpkin puree or if you have an extra can of pumpkin floating around the house. Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal Author: Erin Alderson Recipe type: Breakfast ⅓ cup steel cut oatmeal 1 cup water pinch salt ¼ cup pumpkin ½ teaspoon cinnamon pinch nutmeg 1 tablespoon sucanat 2 tablespoon walnut pieces 1 teaspoon vanilla Bring oats, water, and salt to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until oats are slightly tender. More Recipes You Might Like
Sweet Potato & Spinach Breakfast Strata — Breakfast Recipes from The Kitchn I can be an impatient person (my husband will affectionately call me Veruca Salt from time to time, and if I'm being exceptionally impatient, he will sing the Willy Wonka song). This impatience has lead to many years of quick meals because when I want food, I want it now. Breakfast especially needs to be quick and something I don't have to put a lot of energy in to. So where does this strata fit in? My impatience with breakfast can easily be combatted with a little prep the night before. And this strata? This particular strata is ready for fall — it's packed with all my favorite cool weather ingredients like squash and rosemary! And the bread? Sweet Potato & Spinach Breakfast Strata Serves 4 to 6 Prep this strata the night before you plan to serve it. Place the spinach in a large bowl and scoop hot sweet potatoes and onions top. Lightly grease a 9x9-inch (or 2 1/2 quart) baking dish. In the morning, remove strata from refrigerator and preheat the oven to 350˚F. Cholesterol 274.5 mg (91.5%)