Even Better Now - OMG Delicious Havest Pasta

 Last Fall, I shared with you my recipe for Butternut Squash-Stuffed Pasta Shells.  They are OMG delicious...but wait!  I've found a way to make them ever better.  Yes, it's true, it can be done!

So how did I come up with genius?  Well, honestly, the original recipe was a loose interpretation of a pumpkin stuffed shell I saw.  I couldn't find pumpkin, so I used squash instead.  But this time, I used the pumpkin and it was just as amazing and a lot easier.

Also, I decided last time that the shells were a little dry.  I've found that Romano and Parmesan can be a little dry and tasteless, so lately I've been substituting half of the Romano in all my recipes with Whipped Cream Cheese.  OMG!  I was so spot on with this one.  Finally, I decided Vodka sauce would be better with pumpkin than a standard marinara.  Turns out this was true also.

One more note about this recipe.  It is both vegetarian and lower in fat because the pumpkin adds body and taste without fat!  You can also make this ahead of time, and cook the following day.

 

So, here you go...an updated version to favorite Fall recipe.

Pumpkin-Stuffed Pasta Shells

Ingredients:

24 Jumbo Pasta Shells
1C of Fat Free Ricotta

3/4C of Whipped Cream Cheese
1/2 a Butternut Squash, cooked and mashed (I just cooked it in the microwave), OR 3/4 Can of Pumpkin Puree
1/2C Grated Romano/Parmesan Blend
1 Egg White
2 Cloves of Garlic (I used minced garlic in the jar, 2TBSP)
1C Fresh Basil, chopped
1TBSP Chopped Fresh Sage, minced, plus a 5 leaves
1/4C of Walnuts or Almonds (Hazelnuts would be delicious too!)
1TSP Salt
1TSP Pepper

Dash of Nutmeg
1 Jar of Spaghetti Sauce (I used Vodka Sauce, but Marinara works, too)

Instructions: 

1. Cook pasta shells according to instructions.  Rinse with cool water and drain. 

2. Coat the bottom of a baking pan with spaghetti sauce.  Set aside.

3. In a bowl, mix Ricotta, cream cheese, Romano/Parmesan, egg white, garlic, basil, and chopped sage together.  Add squash and walnuts, salt and pepper.

 

4. Spoon a portion of the stuffing into each of the cooked pasta shells, and layer in the pan atop the spaghetti sauce.  Drizzle or spray a light amount of olive oil over the shells. Drizzle a bit of the spaghetti sauce atop the shells also.

5. At this point, you could refrigerate the dish until ready to cook or cook immediately.
 

6. Cook covered in aluminum foil for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  

 

7. While the pasta is cooking, spritz a small amount of butter or olive oil and garlic salt in a pan and brown.  Add the leaves of fresh sage and crisp.  Lightly salt.
 

8. After 30 minutes of cooking the pasta, uncover and cook an additional five minutes. Top with the sage leaves and fresh Parmasan and enjoy!

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Feels Like Fall...Might As Well Look Like Fall Too!

The other day while on a long car ride with my husband, we decided to name our favorite things about each season.  As I went through the seasons, I realized even though I've always been a summer girl, I actually had more things I love about Fall.  Among them:

• The colors: the burnt oranges, brick reds, and sunset yellows.
• Scarves and woven hats.
• The food: spaghetti, chili, squash, and soups!
• Crisp, cold nights.
• Halloween and Thanksgiving...my favorite holidays.
• Back to school. 
• College football season and tailgating.
• Fall hiking.

So, when I woke up on Saturday morning to a brisk morning sunrise, I couldn't help but think that Autumn had arrived.  So, why not just embrace it?  And so I did.  I headed down to the craft store with some pictures of the door arrangement I wanted to make, and started sprucing up the entry for Fall.

I loved the look of this door arrangement, but I wanted to do it in Autumnal colors.

Heres' the finished product. I found an egg-shaped twine basket at Michael's for $14.99 and figure I can change up the arrangement every season.

And then I had to change the flowers in my antique pedestal lantern...just because!

Tah Dah...about $30 later, I've got a nice Fall arrangement.

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A Very Merry Cranberry Thanksgiving Menu

I did it! I did it!  An entire Thanksgiving meal with not a burnt roll, soggy salad, or broken plate (however, two wine glasses and lever on the sink weren't so lucky).

We had a very quaint Thanksgiving dinner--just me, my husband, son, sister, mom, and dad.  Because it was a casual occasion, there was no set dinner time, which gave us the opportunity to take a leisurely walk down to Starbucks in the morning, snack on lettuce wraps and aspergras rolls in the afternoon, and have a 5pm (give or take a half hour) dinner.

I think the key to success for Thanksgiving dinner is:

• Know what's ok to make ahead (cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, dessert)
• Know what not to make ahead (turkey, salad, bread) and how to properly re-heat anything you do make ahead.
• Pre-cut anything you can't make ahead.
• Thaw your turkey early.
• Don't have too many unique flavors that compete with each other.
• Have a hungry audience so everything tastes good (i.e. lots of alcohol and don't serve lunch).

I will be sharing my favorite recipes from this meal with you over the course of the next week.  Just in time for Christmas!

The Menu:

Asparagus Roll-Ups
Lettuce Wraps
Blue Cheese, Walnut, and Cranberry Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Herb-Roasted Turkey
Mushroom Sausage Stuffing 
Rosemary Mashers with Gravy
Homemade Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallots (fan favorite)
Rhodes Rolls
Cranberries with Oranges
Sour Cream Cheesecake

I found that I didn't even have to put out the fine China.  My casual dinnerware matched the Harvest decor just fine!  But it was laughable that I actually had to think to remember what side the fork, knife, and glasses go on!

I placed fabric leaves under my recycled glass plates and added gold chargers (from the Dollar Tree) for a festive look.  I can't help but laugh every time I see a charger because it reminds me of this episode of "Cribs" where this basketball player was eating off a charger and was so happy he "found these really big plates).

The table (before we messed it up).

The food (before we ate it).  Dinner was comprised of Roasted Turkey with Herbs, Rosemary Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Rhodes Dinner Rolls, Homemade Green Bean Casserole, Sage Sausage Stuffing with Mushrooms, and Cranberry-Orange Sauce.

Mmmmm.  My husband insisted on canned cranberries (which no one ate because the homemade ones were better), and my sister insisted on Stove Top (which no one made because the homemade smelled so much better).  The only thing not homemade was the dinner rolls, which were an accident because we forgot to put the homemade bread in the breadmaker.

The crowd-winning favorite was the Homemade Green Bean Cassorole with home-fried shallots and homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup (recipe to follow in another post).

For dessert, I made a Cheesecake using my father-in-law's recipe.  It was to die for! I used leftover cranberry sauce for the topping.

I also used a Silky Pumpkin Pie recipe, but it pretty much just tasted like Pumpkin Pie.  The Cheesecake was better.

OMG Delicious (and low in points) Harvest Stuffed Shells

I love the Fall.  The leaves, the chilly nights, and the food!  I was very inspired by all the Autumn recipes in the various magazines this months.  One, in particular, was a pumpkin pasta recipe I was dying to try.

So I headed down to Fred Meyer to buy some canned pumpkin, but couldn't find it anywhere.  I asked the clerk and she said they don't carry it because it's "seasonal."  Okay, forgive me, but isn't Fall the "season" for said sqwash?  So, then I headed to Trader Joes...same story. 

So here I am wondering why I can buy a Halloween costume in August, but I can't find canned pumpkin in mid-September at the very same store.  Completely out of character, however, I turned this minus into a plus.  I remembered this awesome ravioli I had with Butternut Squash and toasted Sage from Pastini's one time and decided to modify the Pumpkin Pasta recipe to create a new Butternut Squash recipe.  And I have to say, it was probably the most delicious pasta I've made this season!

The topper?  Because squash is both low calorie and juicy, this pasta has about a third of the fat and calories of normal stuffed shells.  Three stuffed shells are about 6 Weight Watcher Points (8 Points Plus)!

So, here it is:  OMG Delicious Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

24 Jumbo Pasta Shells (I couldn't find high fiber ones, but if anyone knows where I can find them, let me know)
1 to 1-1/2C of Fat Free Ricotta
1/2 a Butternut Squash, cooked and mashed (I just cooked it in the microwave)
1/2C Grated Romano/Parmesan Blend
1 Egg White
2 Cloves of Garlic (I used minced garlic in the jar, 2TBSP)
1C Fresh Basil, chopped
1TBSP Fresh Sage, minced, plus a 5 leaves
1/4C of Walnuts (Hazelnuts would be delicious too!)
1TSP Salt
1TSP Pepper
1 Jar of Spaghetti Sauce

Directions:

1. Cook pasta shells according to instructions.  Rinse with cool water and drain. 
2. Coat the bottom of a baking pan with spaghetti sauce.  Set aside.
3. In a bowl, mix ricotta, romano/parmesan, egg white, garlic, basil, and chopped sage together.  Add squash and walnuts, salt and pepper.
4. Spoon a portion of the stuffing into each of the cooked pasta shells, and layer in the pan atop the spaghetti sauce.  Drizzle or spray a light amount of olive oil over the shells.
5. At this point, you could refrigerate the dish until ready to cook or cook immediately.
6. Cook covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  
7. While the pasta is cooking, spritz a small amount of butter or olive oil and garlic salt in a pan and brown.  Add the leaves of fresh sage and crisp.  Lightly salt.
8. After 30 minutes of cooking the pasta, the original recipe calls for 15 more minutes uncovered, but I think that would dry it out, so I didn't and it was wonderful!  Top with the sage leaves and enjoy!

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