Winter is Coming Pumpkin Alfredo

With fall officially winding down, I decided to make one last delicious pumpkin dish.  The "alfredo" sauce is incredibly easy to throw together, and it was really tasty with a big pile of zucchini noodles.

What you need:

• 4 zucchinis
• 3/4 cup raw, unsalted cashews
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (or more, depending on how much you like garlic)
• 2 springs fresh rosemary, stems removed and discarded
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned or make your own)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• salt & pepper, to taste 

Start by spiraling your zucchini into zoodles.  To keep the zoodles from getting too watery when you cook them, I recommend spreading them in a thin layer on a paper towel, sprinkling with salt, covering with another paper towel, and gently pressing the paper fowl down.  Let them sit this way while you get everything else ready, and that way a lot of the moisture will be pulled out of them.

The rest is pretty simple.   Blend the cashews and 1/2 cup of vegetable broth in a blender.   Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat, and then add in garlic and rosemary, cooking until fragrant.

I used more than 1 tbsp of garlic... it's just too tasty!

Turn the heat to low, add in your blended cashew mix - at this point, to get the last bit of cashew/broth paste out of the blender, I put the remaining 1/2 cup vegetable broth in the blender and blended with the remaining paste.  Pour that in your saucepan, too.  Add the nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin, and salt and pepper, as well.  Stir to make sure everything is blended and let it heat through.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet or wok over medium-high heat, and then toss in your zucchini noodles.  Cook until heated through.

Remove the zucchini noodles from heat and mix in your sauce.

Enjoy!

The Gift Shepherd's Pie

I've always loved Shepherd's Pie, and decided to make my own fall vegetable-inspired version.  Instead of mashed potatoes on top, I used a pumpkin/sweet potato puree, and just to pump up the vegetable content, I added some Lacinato kale to the beef mixture.  I was incredibly happy with the results, and would happily eat this all winter long!

What you need:

• 1lb ground beef
• 3 ears corn, roasted and cut off of the cob
• 1 bunch Lacinato Kale, stems removed and leaves chopped 
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 small pumpkin
• 1 onion, chopped and divided into 2 piles
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 tbsp sage, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp butter (or butter substitute, I used Smart Balance light butter spread)
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tbsp flour
• Salt and pepper, to taste

First, pre-heat your oven to 350F.  Pierce the skin of the pumpkin and the sweet potatoes in a few places, wrap the sweet potatoes in foil, and place all three in the oven, baking for an hour.  While they are cooking, heat 1 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and sauté 1/2 of the chopped onion, setting aside when it's done.  Shuck the corn and season with salt, pepper, and olive oil to taste, then wrap in foil.  

When there are 30 minutes of cook time remaining, put the corn in the oven with the pumpkin and sweet potatoes.  When the pumpkin and sweet potatoes are done, unwrap the potatoes and corn and set everything aside to cool down.

Next, melt 1 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium heat, and add beef and season with salt & pepper and 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce.  Once the beef has begun to brown, add the remaining onion and carrots and continue to cook until the onions have become translucent.  

While the beef and onion mixture is cooking,  heat the remaining 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp flour in a small saucepan over medium heat, making sure to stir constantly.  Add the broth and 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce and whisk as it heats to prevent lumps from forming.  Let it cook down for 1 minute, stirring to ensure it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.

Once your gravy has thickened, add it to the beef mixture, stirring everything together.  

Next, add the chopped kale in batches, letting it wilt.    

Now, add your beef mixture to a greased baking dish, and cut the corn off of the cob, adding it to the baking dish.

At some point during your cooking, you will also want to make your potato/pumpkin topping.  This can be done at any point after the pumpkin and sweet potato come out of the oven.  To make the topping, cut your sweet potatoes and pumpkin in half, and (after removing pumpkin seeds) spoon the flesh into a blender.  Add in the cooked onion that you set aside earlier, sage, salt and pepper, and 1 tsp oil.  Blend until you have a smooth mixture, and then spoon it over the top of your beef and corn mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350F, uncovered.

Enjoy!