Maccaroni with Pumpkin Sauce

I found this super-simple, super-delicious recipe for "Penne-Wise Pumpkin Pasta" on Rachael Ray's website. I simply didn't add the few of the ingredients I didn't have, and kind of generally halved it, since I'm only one, and it claims to feed six. (One would think that halved recipe should feed three, but instead it just fed me.) The recipe I made used these ingredient; I copied Rachael Ray's instruction's below.

• Elbow maccaroni
• Olive Oil
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 (plus a little) cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• Salt
• Pepper

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
2. While the pasta is working, in a medium skillet, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, pumpkin and cream. Add the hot sauce, cinnamon and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sage.
3. Toss the pasta with the sauce and pass the parmigiano-reggiano around the table.

I was very lucky that my roommate happened to have some heavy cream she had just told me I could use when I came across this recipe, because otherwise I'd never have had it. The pumpkin taste is understated, but hey, it's not like I'm cooking lots of pumpkin because I can't get enough pumpkin. I'm cooking lots of pumpkin because I can't get rid of enough pumpkin! (In fact, my one problem with this one is that it doesn't use enough pumpkin! How many nights in a row would I have to eat this to clean out my freezer?) I had trouble getting my sauce to thicken at the end, which could be because I left a couple ingredients out; you never know how that messes with your chemistry. It was delicious nonetheless. I'll definitely try this one again.

Pumpkin Leather Update

It needed to be in the oven for up to 18 hours. It was already overcooked - but good nonetheless - when I took it out at 8 am, after a mere 13 hours in the oven. I'll have to try again some time when I have 13 hours or so to be in the house (ha!), checking it occasionally.

Pumpkin Leather

I came across the website of the National Center for Home Food Preservation. (Note to readers: If your reaction to that sentence is "Wow! Cool!" or "Old news. I've had that bookmarked for ages," you are as big a dork as I am.)

They have a recipe for Pumpkin Leather, so I'm giving it a try, of course.

Pumpkin Leather

2 cups fresh pumpkin, cooked and pureed (can substitute 2 cans pumpkin) 1/2 cup honey 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon powdered cloves Blend ingredients well. Spread on tray or cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap. Dry at 140ºF.

The general directions for making leathers are over at their Fruit Leathers page:

Preparing the Trays

For drying in the oven a 13" x 15" cookie pan with edges works well. Line pan with plastic wrap being careful to smooth out wrinkles. Do not use waxed paper or aluminum foil.

To dry in a dehydrator, specially designed plastic sheets can be purchased or plastic trays can be lined with plastic wrap.

Pouring the Leather

Fruit leathers can be poured into a single large sheet (13" X 15") or into several smaller sizes. Spread pureé evenly, about 1/8-inch thick, onto drying tray. Avoid pouring pureé too close to the edge of the cookie sheet. The larger fruit leathers take longer to dry. Approximate drying times are 6 to 8 hours in a dehydrator, up to 18 hours in an oven and 1 to 2 days in the sun.

Drying the Leather

Dry fruit leathers at 140ºF. Leather dries from the outside edge toward the center. Test for dryness by touching center of leather; no indentation should be evident. While warm, peel from plastic and roll, allow to cool and rewrap the roll in plastic. Cookie cutters can be used to cut out shapes that children will enjoy. Roll, and wrap in plastic.

Chances are the fruit leather will not last long enough for storage. If it does, it will keep up to 1 month at room temperature. For storage up to 1 year, place tightly wrapped rolls in the freezer.

I, in typical fashion, started this project, and put it in the oven before I realized I needed 18 hours in the oven. So I should take it out. . . tomorrow at 1pm. Smack in the middle of the work day. So, uh, I'll be playing this one by ear. But I'll let you know if it works or if I've screwed up completely. I have high hopes.

Pumpkin Rice

Like I said, I'm on the look-out for pumpkin recipes to try with all the many many bags of frozen pumpkin puree that are in my apartment right now. For the most part, "being on the look-out," for me, involves quite a bit of googling. Not having grocery shopped since I got back from spring break, I realized that pretty much my entire options for dinner were pumpkin or rice. Not being a big fan of either on its own, as I expect most people aren't (Never mind that most people do seem to like rice in and of itself. That is something I have never understood), I googled "pumpkin rice" and. . . Voila!

From Meals Matter, a recipe for Good-For-You Pumpkin Rice by user kittychic2.

1 cup Brown rice or couscous
1 tsp Butter
1 can Low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup Canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Each nutmeg & cloves
1/4 cup Onion minced

Precook rice or couscous with butter. Season to taste. After rice cooks, stir in broth, pumpkin and spices and let come to a simmering boil. Reduce heat to low and let cook for 20-30 minutes. Add onion to taste.

I didn't have cloves or onion, so I just skipped those parts. I'm sure it would be even better if I hadn't, but I wouldn't say they're necessary.

It's simple, but really quite good - unlike the other top Google results for pumpkin rice, which seems either hugely complicated or not really good dinner material.

I was planning on having this as my complete dinner, because it was all I had, but Rhett decided to come over for dinner. When I told him I was going to make pumpkin rice, we had this conversation on Gmail:

Rhett: that sounds....interesting

me: well then, prepare to be interested

Not being much of an adventurer in the food area, he proceeded to go to Safeway, buy some chicken, and make us lemon chicken for dinner (although he did say he actually liked the pumpkin rice once he got here!).

This was a good, easy pumpkin recipe that I may be using more in the future to use of my stock of pumpkin. I've only got another month or two in this apartment, and I may be eating pumpkin for every meal between now and when I have to clean out the fridge to move.

Pumpkin Bars

Yesterday afternoon, Tuesdays being my day off, I made pumpkin bars from the recipe that Maria left me in the comments on my first crock pot post. (I had asked for them when she mentioned them on Faith and Family.) They were so amazing that I simply have to repost the recipe.

Pumpkin Bars
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup cooking oil 1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Mix dry ingredients. Beat eggs, add sugar, then oil; add dry ingredients
with pumpkin and nuts. Pour in 9x9x2-inch greased baking pan. Bake at 350
degrees for 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan and frost, if
desired.

I didn't have a 9x9 pan, so I put mine in one that was more like 5x6. (Do pans that size even exist?) Mine were much thicker, I'm sure, than Maria's are, and had to bake for more like 40-45 minutes. I think I'd try to go with the larger pan in the future, as these go very quickly (and, um, I'm the only one eating them), so it'd be nice to be able to make them stretch/control myself more easily. I highly recommend these.

Maria said that she had added oatmeal and chocolate chips on top, which sound good, but having given up chocolate for Lent, I went with the basic recipe. I tried to add nuts, but failed at doing so. (After crushing some walnuts, I left them on the other side of the counter and didn't realize I'd forgotten them until I was cleaning up. Then I tried to figure out what to do with them. Did you ever try to snack on crushed walnuts with your fingers while watching tv? I recommend a spoon.)

I also made a pumpkin soup last night, but I don't have the recipe right now to post it. Does anyone else have any good pumpkin recipes? I have a ton of pumpkin puree in the freezer, and I'm looking for things to do with it!