Ok, I don’t have a pic for our Halloween dinner, so I’ll just link to the two recipes we used. The shrimp and pasta was great. When you’re making it you think the sauce isn’t going to be that great or flavorful - it just doesn’t look like much. But when you get it in the bowl and tossed it’s a great light flavor. The squid ink pasta was great - kind of a slimy texture but a bit richer than regular semolina pasta. I found this at Buon Italia in Chelsea Market. I’ve also seen it in Dean&Deluca, which might be closer to you if you’re not in NYC. The Pumpkin crumb cake was also a hit. Don’t be intimidated by all the steps, it’s really not that hard, just follow carefully. The vanilla cake was nice and moist, the pumpkin filling was just sweet enough and the crumb top was a nice crunch. I highly recommend both of these recipes. This was about as celebratory as we get for Halloween so we were quite happy!

So this recipe said it made 4 servings. Granted, I didn’t make the scallop part - they’re really expensive! But the risotto to pumpkin ratio didn’t really leave enough risotto for 3 people. If you really like pumpkin, then that’s fine, but we all wanted a bit more creamy risotto goodness. It was good though - just a basic basic white risotto recipe with some blanched pumpkin added - lot of goodness though. I’d like to try the whole recipe someday with the scallops when my pocketbook allows. This with a great salad and white wine - Bon Appétit!

This is a great entree salad. The pumpkin is super hearty and the polenta adds a nice creaminess. I found this recipe on Epicurious. I did change some of what they did. First, there is so much instant polenta around I didn’t bother with the cornmeal bit, and I actually just used the pre-made polenta already in a roll and sliced it and fried it which cuts down on a lot of the time. I also didn’t have any pomegranate juice or sherry vinegar, but I did pick up some pomegranate seeds at Trader Joe’s this week so that added a great sweetness. For the dressing, I just used my own balsamic vinaigrette. The candied pumpkin seeds are great, and you can only make them if you’re using a pumpkin rather than a butternut squash. While the seeds were great, I do prefer butternut squash roasted rather than pumpkin. This recipe, I feel, is a nice suggestion and can be changed a lot of ways.

I thought this would be a different, lighter way to use pumpkin this week. You can either use canned pumpkin purée that doesn’t have anything added, or roast a pumpkin and purée it in a blender - minus skin of course. These cakes make a pretty orange color and look really nice and fall-y when you cut into them. The pumpkin gives the dish a nice nutty flavor that’s not overly sweet and balances the sweetness of the crab. I think I’ll be doing some more refining on this recipe, but Johnathan and I were really happy with it. You can make these smaller for appetizers or serve 1 per person as a first course or light lunch. I just served them over mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette. Here’s how I did it:

Serves 2-4

1 - 7oz package lump crab meat (frozen or fresh)

1/3 cup pumpkin purée - canned or homemade

2 tablespoons mayo

1 tablespoon chives

1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence

1 clove crushed garlic

1 cup panko bread crumbs - I bought some chive panko bread crumbs from Whole Foods

salt and pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well mixed. Score mixture with your hands, into 4 parts. Form each quarter into a patty. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, covered.

2. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large fry pan. Cook each patty about 2 minutes per side. Serve hot.

I didn’t like the name Rachael Ray gave this recipe, and she repeated it so many times on the show I couldn’t bear to do it again. This was super easy, super fast, but I’ve had better tasting recipes from her. It could be me not making it great, but I think the sauce in general needs a bit more “umph”, maybe chicken or chorizo. I did use wheat penne which I think gives it more substance. I should have made a good side dish, but time sometimes doesn’t always permit. Check out the recipe here and see what you think.

I probably won’t recommend making a whole week of pumpkin dishes, but by me doing this, you can pick and choose, and what better week to do this experiment. Johnathan’s enthusiasm might wane a bit by the end of the week, but I hope to make these dishes interesting enough that even if you did do a whole week of them you won’t hate pumpkins forever. Friday we’re having some close friends over for Halloween, as we all have an equal disinterest in Halloween celebrations. However I am making a festive dish using butternut squash and black fettuccine, and the pumpkin will be in the dessert. Here’s what I’m thinking for this week:

Monday - a Rachael Ray pasta I saw this weekend - Penne with a pumpkin cream sauce

Tuesday - Pumpkin Crab Cakes

Wednesday - Warm Pumpkin Salad with Polenta

Thursday - Pumpkin Risotto

Friday - Black Fettuccine with Shrimp and Butternut Squash with Pumpkin Crumb Cake for dessert.

If you’re ambitious and experimental, making your own ravioli is the way to go. You can make any sort of filling, with whatever you happen to have available. This recipe was really using the last of the last of what I had as far as groceries for the week. I had saved some pasta dough from the other day - I had made 2 servings (2 eggs and 2 cups semolina) but it was plenty for that day’s dish, as well as 20-24 ravioli. The ravioli dough is rolled out super thin, so it goes a long way. We use our Atlas pasta maker, which makes making sheets of dough really easy. I had a can of pumpkin open  - I had made a pumpkin bread loaf (add $1.69 to the grocery total) for some friends, and had about 1/3 cup left. I had also bought some ricotta this week at TJ’s. I wanted to bring more fall into our house and paired sage and toasted hazelnuts with the pumpkin flavor. It was great! You can also use wonton wrappers like we did for the mushroom ravioli if you don’t want to make your own pasta dough, or if you don’t have time, it’s a great way to get custom pasta flavors. Here’s what we did:

Makes 2-4 servings - depending on how hungry you are

Pasta Dough, rolled out into rectangles (or something like a rectangle) about a dime thick

Filling:

1/3 cup pumpkin - from the can, like you would use for pumpkin pie

1/2 cup ricotta

1 teaspoon fresh chopped sage

3-4 tablespoons fresh grated parm

salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine in a small bowl. Use a teaspoon to drop onto the bottom of the first sheet of pasta dough, about 1-2 inches apart. Using your finger, brush water in between the drops of filling. Carefully lay the second sheet of pasta dough on top, and sealing the ravioli (the water keeps the pasta sticking together) trying to get all the air out of pockets. With a ravioli cutter or just a paring knife, cut the raviolis and place on a pan with plenty of flour and let dry for about 2 hours. Note: if you find a lot of air in your ravioli, poke it with a fork and try to press out the air as much as possible.

2. Heat oven to 300F. Place 1/2 cup raw hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and toast for about 5-7 minutes, until they’re really fragrant. Rub off the brown skin as much as possible, then coarsely chop or run through a food processor.

3. Heat a large pot of salted boiling water and add ravioli. Cook for about 4-6 minutes, until they float to the top then carefully remove with a slotted spoon (they may be too fragile to dump into a colander, so it’s best to use a slotted spoon). Put on a serving plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Sauce;

4. Heat a stick of butter in a saucepan for about 3 minutes until starting to brown. Add 1 tablespoon torn sage leaves and let fry. Salt and Pepper to taste.

5. Pour butter sauce over ravioli, toss with toasted hazelnuts, and grate fresh parm on top.

Wow! This recipe is just a lot of fun. I’m a sucker for using foods in alternative ways, i.e. using the pumpkin as the bowl to bake everything. I bought 2 smaller pumpkins, thinking Johnathan and I would each eat one. We only got to one, and we were stuffed. I’m going to put the rest of the other pumpkin innards in a baking dish and reheat for lunch tomorrow. I made sure I bought pumpkin pie pumpkins from the Farmer’s Market, and the settle flavor that baked into the soup was amazing. The recipe calls for chicken stock, but you could also use beef or veg broth - I like using a meat broth, it’s heartier. I also scooped out all the pumpkin seeds, and toasted them to make a yummy snack for us during the week - just wash, dry, lay out on a baking sheet, bake for a couple hours at 250F, then season with salt and pepper - I used a little nutmeg too. This is a great way to get a lot out of your food. I got this recipe from the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Cookbook. It’s a great guide to seasonal produce, how to buy, store, and cook with what you buy. Here’s the recipe:

1 or 2 pumpkins - about 8-10 pounds for single, or divide for smaller pumpkins

1/4 lb unsalted butter room temp

3 leeks, white part and 2 inches of green, cut into 1 inch thick rounds

6 slices country bread, each 1 inch thick, torn into bite sized pieces and toasted (I toasted the bread as the oven was preheating)

1/2 teaspoon ground sage ( I used fresh, because I had it - adds more flavor)

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups shredded guryére cheese

About 5 cups chicken stock (or veg or beef)

2 bay leaves

1. Preaheat oven to 350F - Toast the bread as the oven is heating, checking often to make sure you don’t burn it.

2. Using a large, sharp knife (we used a serated), cut off the top of the pumpkin, creating a lid about 4 inches in diameter. Set the lid aside. Using a large metal spoon, scoop out any seeds and strings. Rub the cut side of the lid and the inside of the pumpkin with the 1 tablespoon room temp butter. Season the lid and the inside of the pumpkin with salt and place the pumpkin, cut side up, in a good deep baking dish or pan.

3. In a skillet, melt the remaining 7 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the toasted croutons and sprinkle them with the sage, nutmeg, and a little salt and pepper. Stir well and remove from heat.

4. Spoon a layer of the seasoned croutons into the pumpkin. Sprinkle a layer of the cheese on top of them. Repeat the layers until you have used up all the croutons and cheese. Pour in stock to within 1 inch of the rim. Lay the bay leaves on top, and then fit the lid onto the pumpkin.

5. Bake until the pumpkin begins to soften and brown on the outside and the stock bubbles on the inside, about 1.5 - 2 hours. Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven. With a long-handled spoon or ladle, gently scrape the flesh from the bottom and sides of the pumpkin into the soup, being careful not to puncture the walls. Ladle soup, including tender chunks of pumpkin flesh, into warmed bowls and serve.