Pumpkin Ricotta Stuffed Shells

And I made Pumpkin and Ricotta Stuffed Shells!

After a little hesitation from both me and Adam, we actually enjoyed the pumpkin twist on the old classic! The flavor was much more complex than the typical ricotta and mozzarella filling. And when you think pumpkin, don't think sweet. Think dimension and savory. Although I think I would serve it as a side dish with some meat, just for texture.

And if you us low fat ricotta (of course I did not - I used whole milk ricotta. yum!), this dish has less calories (and more flavor!) than the traditional recipe!

My Aunt Donna mailed me this recipe (thank you!!). It's from October 2011 Country Living magazine.

24 jumbo pasta shells
1 tablespoon olive oil
22 ounces ricotta (2 1/2 cups)
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
2 1/2 ounces pecorino Romano, grated (3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
1 large egg white
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped (I omitted)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 (26 oz.) jar marinara sauce

Cook pasta shells according to package instructions; drain. Transer to a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Set aside and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, pumpkin, 3/4 cup pecorino Romano, and remaining ingredients, except marinara sauce.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread sauce in bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Fill each pasta shell with about 3 tablespoons ricotta-pumpkin mixture and arrange in the pan. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle shells with remaining pecorino, and bake for 15 minutes.

Or you can do what I did and stuff the shells the night before and refrigerate overnight in an airtight container, in between layers of plastic wrap; arrange shells on sauce right before baking.

Pumpkin Waffles

These waffles are a great fall treat. I just love anything pumpkin! This was the first pumpkin recipe of the season for me and the smell of the pumpkin and spices were so good! I have a whole slue of pumpkin recipes lined up for the fall.

This recipe is not complex but it does require a few bowls and a mixer.

I made these in a regular round waffle iron but they would be great in a Belgian waffler!

Ours were topped with fresh whipped cream sweetened with sugar.

Recipe from the Pumpkin Waffle Blog (where else??).

1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Plug in and heat waffle iron.

Combine brown sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Whisk together to break apart the cornstarch. Add the remaining dr ingredients, and whisk to blend.

Separate eggs: yolks go in a medium bowl and whites get set aside in a smaller bowl.

Add pumpkin and milk to the egg yolks. Whisk to blend and set aside.

Whip egg whites with a hand mixer on high until stiff peaks form - about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Set aside.

Pour melted butter into the yolk/milk/pumpkin mixture. As you pour, whisk to combine.

Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix them together until just combined. A little lumpiness is fine and will smooth out when the egg whites are added.

Slide the egg whites out of the bowl and onto the mixture you just prepared. Gently fold them in until no white is obvious.

Once the waffle iron is heated, you're ready to pour in the batter. Because the color of the batter is darker than a regular batter, it is hard to tell when the waffle is done. Make sure it is cooked long enough to a good crispiness.

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

I just love pumpkin so much! Pumpkin anything really. Pie, ice cream, cake, coffee, pasta sauce. But when I saw the pumpkin pie milkshake recipe on Our Best Bites, I started foaming at the mouth! I found this recipe quite a few weeks ago. I went to 2 different stores and they were both sold out of pumpkin - maybe a sign that I should be making my own pumpkin. But last week I finally got my hands on some and we made these shakes twice in one week! They are creamy and crunchy; sweet and spicy!

Recipe from the Our Best Bites website:

1/3 cup (or 2 heaping spoonfuls) pumpkin puree, canned or homemade
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 or 2 graham crackers, crushed

Put everything except the ice cream and crackers in a blender and blend until well mixed. Then, by hand, mash in the ice cream and stir until incorporated. You may need to let the ice cream sit out for a while to let it soften. I find this method the best because my blender won't blend a thick milkshake. You can add more milk if you want it to be less thick.

Pour into a glass or two and top with graham crackers. I then like to stir my graham crackers in because I like to eat the shake with a spoon and get some crackers in each bite!

Next pumpkin recipe will either be whoopie pies from Brown Eyed Baker or sausage pasta from The Culinary Couple.
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Journey of a Pumpkin

So once a long neck pumpkin was born (well, probably sprouted, then budded, then bloomed, then grew). That pumpkin was very large and he found his way to a road side "fall decoration" stand. I pulled over and for $4, he was all mine. I bought him, a mum, a medium sized Jack O Lantern pumpkin and a bunch of gourds to decorade the alter of my church for the harvest season. A few weeks went by and because I was horrible at remembering to water the mum that it nearly died, I took all the decorations home (I tried to do mum CPR but she just didn't pull through). Then the decorations made a journey to Adam's house to grace his stoop. Last weekend I decided I wanted to make a few pumpkin rolls so the long neck traveled back to New Bloomfield where last night I chopped it up, peeled it and cooked it down in preparation for the pumpkin roll. Here are some pictures:

Here is the long neck outside of my parents house, enjoying the simple life of being a fall decoration.

But then I snatched it up, took it inside and began cutting it up. I had the strength to chop through the tough skin knowing that in just a few days, I'll be enjoying some delicious pumpkin roll!

Here are all the peeled pumpkin chunks. I put them in a large pot with a cup of water and let them simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the pumpkin was soft, I took it off the heat, drained it and mushed the pumpkin with the back of the spoon.

The next step is to put it in a food processor to make the pumpkin into a smooth puree. But because it was already past my bedtime, I just put it in the refrigerator as is and I'll puree it right before I make the pumpkin roll.

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I only cooked half of the long neck so I am guessing my mom will prepare the other half and save it for pumpkin pie and other pumpkin-related treats.

Cooking down pumpkin is sooo easy and much more cost effective than buying canned puree. I know I'll resort back to canned simply for convenience purposes, I hope to use fresh pumpkin as much as I can.

I hope to make the pumpkin rolls on Sunday. Stay tuned for photos!

So this long neck pumpkin has seen many places - and will see more before his life is over. He was a good pumpkin and has so far, served me well.

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