Tag Archives: easy

Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo

Happy Thanksgiving!

You probably have pumpkin coming out your ears. In fact, you may at this very moment in time be digging into a slice of pumpkin pie. But I am taking a risk and sending one more pumpkin recipe out there. I figure by the end of the day some of you may have leftover or half-used cans of pumpkin puree, and this dish will give that puree a delicious home.

I found the idea for this recipe on a blog I frequent called The Pajama Chef. Sarah christened the first week of November ‘Pumpkin week’ and posted daily pumpkin recipes. When I pulled up her blog one morning and saw her recipe for what she called ‘Pumpfredo’ sauce, I was intrigued.

Mustard? Yogurt? Pumpkin? Huh?

I just had to try it.

Her version is very healthy–yogurt, no butter, no cream, and only 2 Tablespoons of cheese. But I couldn’t bear to make it with no whipping cream! I had a huge carton of it just sitting in my fridge! So my version has cream. And I had just bought 2 big wedges of Parmesan on sale at the grocery store . . . so I used at least 5 times as much Parmesan as she did. Oh, and because I can’t leave well enough alone, I also added butter. I’m sorry Sarah! I had to follow my heart. And the heavy whipping cream and I go back . . . far back. I hope you understand. My loyalties are deep.

Guys, it’s creamy. It’s rich–but not too rich. With a cup of pure pumpkin puree in it, it’s bound to have some health value. If I had picky eaters around my table, this would be a great way to sneak some veggies into their dinner equation. Of course if I have kids, my plans dictate they will be consummate eaters of things like brussel sprouts. Spinach. Salads.

Things even I rejected as a child.

But that’s why we’re fathering the next generation–so that they can go above and beyond us. Right?

Anyway, let’s get this pumpkin pasta on the table. We’ve got things to do, places to go, stuff to see, and they all involve a plate of this creamalicious orange stuff.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons dijon mustard or spicy brown mustard

1 tablespoon fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried sage

3/4 c heavy whipping cream

1 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

salt to taste

lots of freshly ground black pepper

2 TBS butter

1 lb pasta, cooked

Place the pumpkin puree (please note: not the same thing as pumpkin pie filling!), mustard, sage, chicken broth in a saucepan.

Give ‘er a good old-fashioned whisk to meld it all together.

Cover and heat to boiling, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for at least 20 minutes or until sauce thickens. When you uncover the old girl, the sauce should pass the ‘drag’ test–if you drag a spatual across the pan, the area should not immediately refill with liquid.

With the heat still on low, add the Parmesan cheese, the butter and the cream.

Cook for 10 minutes over medium-low, stirring frequently, and let it thicken and become glorious.

Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. I happen to like tons of black pepper in mine. I also recommend adding a solid amount of salt, since once the sauce coats the pasta, the levels of saltiness will need to carry the whole dish through.

Pour the sauce into the cooked pasta . . .

. . . and stir to mix all that lovely goodness together, where it was meant to be from the dawn of time.

Heck yes!

 

Let it sit for a few minutes to ‘set.’

Serve ‘er up, garnished with some extra sage and parmesan.

She’s a beaut alright.

Grab a fork and dig in!

The pumpkin flavor is there, but it’s not screaming at you. It’s perfect its subtle creaminess.

This would be perfect served with a little leftover turkey. Uh huh.

Enjoy, my friends! I hope you’re all having a beautiful day with family and friends . . .

Of course, I’m just remembering this is the internet. And not all of you live in the US. In fact, Canadians are waaaay over Thanksgiving. They had theirs ages ago.

So for my international friends–I love you too. Make this fettuccine. Amen.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo

Dhal Makhani

I saw the recipe for Dhal Makhani on Andrea’s lovely blog ‘Can You Stay for Dinner’, and immediately knew I had to make it. It’s been far too long since I made Indian food, and this recipe was too easy to be true. Plus, it would use up some of the lentils that have been kicking around in my pantry–my husband is on a ‘clean out the pantry’ mission and has been requiring me to make recipes that use what we already have. A wise choice, since there is still no ice cream space in our freezer.

If you have never made Indian food before, this is a perfect place to start. There are practically no ingredients (OK, well, there are nine of them counting the water), and the ingredients that are in it are totally basic items: ginger, garlic, cayenne–nothing that will require a special trip to an international grocery store. Basically, Dhal Makhani = the most amazing lentils I’ve ever tasted. And I’ve made a lot of lentils in my day.

Which brings us to the question–what the heck is a lentil?

I realized with shock while drafting this post that I had no idea. Was it a pea? Or a bean? Does it qualify as a vegetable? Wikipedia tells me it is a legume, in the same family as peas and beans and peanuts and chickpeas and tofu (soy beans) and (wait for it) it is a fruit. Whaaaa . . . ?

Let’s not get caught up in technicalities here–it’s incredible and wonderful in every way.

I made very few changes to the original recipe, and it is so delicious. It has very few ingredients, but the depth of flavor that emerges when they are brought together into this vegetarian harmony is just amazing. Even though the cook time is 1 hour and 20 minutes, the prep time is virtually nonexistent, so it’s still the perfect dinner for a busy weeknight . . . as long as you can control your hunger pangs for a little longer than usual.

Ingredients

(serves 3)

1 cup dried lentils

15 oz can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons butter

water (up to one cup)

3 tablespoons heavy cream

fresh cilantro for garnish

OK, first let’s grab our lentils. I used Dupuy lentils, which are French and dark green and tiny. But any kind of lentil would work.

Now, put the cup of lentils into a pot. Cover them in cold water by 2 inches, then slap that baby on the stove over high heat.

Bring it to a boil, decrease the heat to medium high, cover the pot, and cook for 20 minutes.

While it’s cooking, prep your other ingredients: open your can of tomato sauce, mince the garlic, grate the ginger, measure out the cayenne, and grab that butter.

After 20 minutes the lentils should be a little softer, but not mushy. Drain them in the sink . . .

. . . and then return them to the pot with the ingredients you just prepped.

Mix that deliciousness in.

Cover the pot and turn the heat on low. Cook for an hour, stirring occasionally and adding water (up to a cup) when needed. If you don’t stir them, your lentils will probably burn to the bottom (that could also mean your heat is too high)–I stirred them 3 or 4 times throughout, and added the full cup of water.

At the end of an hour they will look something like this:

Now it’s time to taste and adjust the seasoning, with more cayenne for those of you who like a jolt of fire on your tongue.

The next step is very important. Grab your best friend:

That’s right–we’re BFF’s and not ashamed of it!

Stir in the cream and sigh at the delights to come. While you’re at it, add a serious handful of chopped cilantro.

Heck yes.

Serve it over rice.

So satisfying! So hearty! So flavorful!

Seriously guys, the ratio of ingredients (few) to flavor (lots) is so surprising. Plus, it’s eating on the cheap–lentils and tomato sauce are grocery-budget friendly, which is great news for us grocery budget transgressors.

So pretty–the red, the yellow, the green . . .

Just because my life has been a barren wasteland because of the lack of Dhal Makhani up to this point doesn’t mean yours has to be. Learn from the mistakes of your forefathers! Make this dish!

Click here for printer-friendly version: Dhal Makhani