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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Pumpkin Evening 3/14/10

I baked half a pumpkin the other night and pureed it yesterday. I put two bags in the freezer and left one in the fridge to have on hand. There are just too many options of what to do with a pumpkin when you don't have easy access to a can of pumpkin. Especially if pumpkin is one of your favorite flavors.

I made Pumpkin Pasta for dinner from http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/pumpkin-pasta/ with some improvisions.

Ingredients
8 ounces, weight whole wheat Pasta (or Any Pasta Shape You Like)
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 whole Yellow or Red Onion, Diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, Diced
handful of dried sage or thyme
1-½ cup Chicken Stock
½ cups Milk
1 Tablespoon Flour
1-½ cup Pumpkin Puree
¾ teaspoons Salt
Plenty Of Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
2-3 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
Dash Of Nutmeg (optional)
Fresh Parsley (optional)

Preparation Instructions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Sauté onion, Bell Pepper, and sage in butter over medium heat until onion appears translucent. Add 3/4 cup of broth/stock, 1/2 cup of milk, and 1 tablespoon flour. Stir occasionally for 5 minutes, or until mixture thickens.
3. Add pumpkin puree to broth mixture and stir well. Add salt, pepper, and remaining 3/4 cup of broth. Reduce heat and simmer on medium low for 10 to 12 minutes, or until sauce reaches a thicker consistency.
4. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Toss sauce with pasta and serve. Add more cheese, pepper, and a sprinkle of nutmeg and parsley, if desired.

This was good, we liked it! Then with the 3/4 of a cup of pumpkin puree that remained I made Pumpkin Spice Muffins from The Pionner Woman and added a mashed banana to fill it out to 1 cup of puree...

Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 12
Ingredients
• Muffin Ingredients:
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 6 Tablespoons Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1-½ teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Ginger
• ½ teaspoons Nutmeg
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1/2 Stick Butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree
• ½ cups Evaporated Milk
• 1 whole Egg
• 1-½ teaspoon Vanilla
• ½ cups Golden Raisins (optional!)
• _____
• Topping
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoons Nutmeg
• _____
• FOR FROSTING: (Optional)
• ¼ cups Softened Butter
• 4 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
• ½ pounds Powdered Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease 12 muffin tins.
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender until it is fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins. Fold gently until mixture is just combined.
Pour into a greased muffin pan—batter hardly ever fills all twelve unless you keep it down to 1/2 full. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar-nutmeg mixture over the top of each unbaked muffin.
Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool. Ice with cream cheese frosting.
To make the frosting, mix all ingredients on high until soft and whipped. Spread onto completely cooled muffins, or place into a large pastry bag with a large star tip and go crazy! Store in the fridge, as icing will soften at room temperature.

When my friend Rebecca made these before her son David was born I was shocked at how similar the taste was to pumpkin pie. I'm not putting frosting on these!

Oh I almost forgot. I'm roasting the pumpkin seeds at the same time. How's that for a complete pumpkin post?

1 comment:

  1. Hey, Steph! I will have to try this pasta recipe... sounds interesting. I just made some muffins from this vegan recipe, and you can't tell at all that it is missing eggs, butter or milk! It's awesome!

    http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/11/vegan-pumpkin-walnut-bread/#comments

    ReplyDelete