Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

Like many people, I *LOVE* pumpkin. Nothing says Fall like pumpkin, am I right?! So, when I saw this recipe for creamy pumpkin pasta I just *had* to try it. And, it turned out really good. My kids ate it right up!!

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta


Ingredients

• 1 small onions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 cups chicken broth, made from bouillon
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 1/4 cup romano cheese, shredded
• 1 lb penne or 1 lb rotini pasta

Directions

1. In a large skillet, saute the onion and garlic in butter, over medium heat, until soft, not brown.
2. Whisk in the pumpkin, broth, creams and seasonings to taste.
3. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until al dente.
5. Drain pasta and stir into pumpkin, simmering 2-3 minutes more until thick.
6. Stir in parsley and garnish with romano, more parsley and pumpkin seeds if desired.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

(sorry about the weird shadow)

1 29 oz can pure pumpkin (Libby's is best...and be careful not to get the pumpkin pie mix, just the plain pumpkin)
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 t. salt
3 t. cinnamon
1 box yellow cake mix
1 c. chopped pecans (optional)
3/4 c. melted margarine

Preheat oven to 350. Mix first SIX ingredients until well-blended, and pour into a greased 13x9" pan. Sprinkle cake mix on top, cover with pecans. Pour melted margarine over top. Bake 50 minutes.

It makes lots and so is good for dinner parties and the like. (friend's comment)

My friend first called this just a Pumpkin Cake, but either way the title is misleading. It's more like an upside down pumpkin pie, with the cake mix forming a top crust. I don't know that I'll make it again. I'm pregnant so everything tastes weird, and it really wasn't what I was expecting. It wasn't bad or anything, but I was hoping for a CAKE, not a custard. *sigh* 3 stars.

(and yes, I know it has milk in it and I'm lactose intolerant, but I'm 8 weeks pregnant and I always crave dairy when I'm pregnant and, fortunately, seem to tolerate it better then.)

EDIT: My husband gave this 5 stars, and it was *much* better today than yesterday. I also apparently didn't "sprinkle" the cake evenly, because there were parts that it had sunk down in and made sort of a marbling effect with the custard, which was cool and more like what I'd wanted. I'd give it 4 stars today.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

I've noticed lately that a lot of recipes I'm really liking come from Smitten Kitchen. These too. I saw this recipe last year, made them once, and thought I'd make them again this week. We had some friends over for dinner the other night, so I whipped them up then.

A couple of notes on the recipe first:

• If you don't have a 9x9-inch pan, I wouldn't use an 8x8. I've got an 8x8, and they come out too thick. Next time I make them, I think I'll use my 11x7 and see how that works.
• Don't split up the base batter the way the recipe instructs. Start with 1 cup in each of two bowls, then add the rest of the ingredients to each bowl. After that, continue to divide the base batter as needed.

Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 3/4 cups sugar (the original recipe calls for the larger amount; I think it could be dialed down a bit)
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Cut a length of parchment that will cover the bottom and two sides (makes it much easier to remove), and line the pan with it. Butter the lining as well. (Deb note: I used an 8-inch square, because it was what I had. It works, too, but the brownies are crazy thick and take much longer to bake, just to give you a heads-up.)

2. Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

4. Pour half of batter (about two cups) into a separate bowl and stir chocolate mixture into it. If you find that it is a little thick (as mine was) add a little more batter (a few tablespoons or so) until it is more pourable. This is important because mine was quite thick, and the pumpkin half was quite thin, so I had trouble swirling the two together.

5. In other bowl, stir in the pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don’t set.

6. With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Be sure to get your knife all the way to the bottom of the pan–I didn’t, and ended up with a chocolate base, not that it is such a bad thing. Sprinkle with nuts, if using.

7. Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

Challenge Ingredient: Pumpkin or Squash

Good evening everyone! How was your Halloween? I hope everyone had fun -- there's not much point to Halloween otherwise, is there?

This week we're focusing on pumpkins and squash. I get really excited about baking in the Fall (who doesn't?) and I love baked pumpkin goods. It doesn't even have to be baked. It can be frozen. Here is a list of pumpkin food I love:



Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. I don't like pumpkin pie. True story. I like anything and everything else I've ever eaten with pumpkin in it, but not pumpkin pie. I think it's a texture thing.

I've only ever made one thing with squash. I made spaghetti last year using spaghetti squash instead of pasta. I liked it, but my husband said it tasted too much like potatoes, which he doesn't like.

Pumpkin facts:

• The word "pumpkin" comes from the Greek pepon, meaning "large melon" (so why isn't it in season in the Summer?)
• Botanically speaking, the pumpkin is a fruit.
• Antarctica is the only continent incapable of producing pumpkins.
• The top pumpkin-producing states in the country are Illinois, Ohio (go me!), Pennsylvania and California
• Canned pumpkin is often recommended by veterinarians as a dietary supplement for dogs and cats that are experiencing digestive problems, as the high fiber content helps to aid proper digestion.
• Pumpkin flowers are edible

(Sources: Wikipedia: Pumpkin and Pumpkins and More...click here for more factoids from them.)

Squash. Well, I don't really know much about it. There are lots of popular varieties, and tons of ways to eats them -- spaghetti squash, summer squash, winter squash, zucchini, acorn squash, butternut squash. I actually saw a recipe today for butternut squash that I think I'll try out -- maybe this week, maybe not. It can be found here.

Some pumpkin recipes to share:

• Pumpkin Apple Spice Muffins from My Kitchen Cafe.
• Pumpkin Dip that I love to serve with gingersnaps (you might want to cut the recipe in half, though)
• My mom's pumpkin bread (recipe to follow)

Pumpkin Bread

2 cups pumpkin
4 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice

Preheat oven to 350. Dump all ingredients into bowl of stand mixer, and mix just until blended, scraping down the bowl as needed.

For mini loaves (makes 6), bake 25-30 minutes. For full-size loaves (3), bake for 60-65 minutes.

Mini Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes

I made these for a friend for her birthday today. The recipe is in the October issue of BonAppetit Magazine. Mine aren't as cute as the picture in the magazine, so I am using their picture (which I found online here). They are very yummy!

Mini Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes
from BonAppetit Magazine, October 2009

Ingredients:
1 cup self rising flour
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 large egg
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
chopped crystallized ginger (optional)
1 8-oz package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
orange and black food coloring
orange, black, white, and yellow candies and sugar crystals

Special Equipment:
mini muffin pans
1 3/4 x 1 in paper liners

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 mini muffin cups with peper liners. Mix flour, golden brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl. Whisk egg, canned pure pumpkin, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract in medium bowl. Add mixture to dry ingredients; stir to fully combine. Spoon batter into paper liners (batter will almost fill liners). Scatter cryztallized ginger over, if desired.

Bake cupcakes until tester insterted into center comes out clean, about 16 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl to blend. Beat in powdered sugar.

Divide frosting among 3 bowls. Tint frosting in first bowl with orange coloring (or combine red and yellow coloring to make orange) and frosting in second bowl with black coloring, keeping frosting in third bowl wite. Chill frosting 2 hours or until firm enough to easily spread.

Frost cupcakes; decorate using candy and sugar crystals as desired.

****I didn't have any self-rising flour, so I found this recipe for it online, which was 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Other than that I made the cupcakes pretty much as directed, except that I didn't cook them in liners (I don't have any). I just cooked them straight in the muffin pan. They came right out. I also didn't have any crystallized ginger, so I didn't add that (I have had them both ways and they are good either way). I didn't color the frosting. I just used it as is. I also didn't chill the frosting because I forgot about that part and didn't leave time for it. I thought the frosting was fine unchilled.

I would rate this at 5 stars. These would be perfect for dessert for a fall dinner party.