Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli

A few months ago we did an Italian-themed dinner with friends. Whenever we go to C&T's house T and I will make something together from scratch and then split up the rest of the meal. She had printed out this recipe for pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sauce and pecans, so we used that to make the filling and the pasta. Since Baby Girl is allergic to nuts (and because we didn't want a butter-based sauce), I made a sage and garlic-infused cream sauce to serve on top instead.

I thought making the dough was going to be very labor-intensive but it was actually incredibly easy. Like, weeknight easy, assuming you have an hour to let the dough rise and a kitchen helper to thread the dough through the pasta roller. It's only 4 ingredients, things most people keep in their pantry and fridge. I was pleasantly surprised.

While the dough was resting I quickly threw together the filling and then we were able to chat until it was time to roll out the dough. Since T didn't have a ravioli mold we just free-formed ours. They came out very rustic, but they still tasted great.

For the final picture, T sprinkled her plate of ravioli with cinnamon and chopped walnuts but the rest of us just ate the ravioli and cream sauce. Delicious.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage and Garlic Cream Sauce
Pasta and filling from Julia's Album, sauce A Taste of Home Cooking original
Makes 24 ravioli

Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup hot water

Filling:
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups half and half
3-4 sage leaves, minced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

To make the dough: mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and water together. Add the egg and water to the flour and mix until incorporated. Turn out onto a flour-dusted board or clean counter. Knead the dough until firm. The dough should not be too wet or too sticky - it should only stick to itself, but not to your hands. Add more flour as needed to keep the dough dry. Form the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour at room temperature.

To make the filling: mix pumpkin puree with brown sugar and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the ravioli: unwrap the dough and divide into four equal parts. Flour your working area. Using a pasta roller, roll out each part of the dough very thinly. Make sure to flour the dough and the roller to avoid sticking. If you have a ravioli mold, flour the ravioli mold. After you have rolled the 2 portions of dough very thinly, place one layer of dough on the ravioli mold so that it covers all 12 holes. Place a small portion of ravioli filling into each indentation, making sure not to overfill. The filling should be at the same level or lower as the flat part of the mold. Place the second layer of pasta dough on top of the filled ravioli. Using a rolling pin, roll across the mold and along the edges to separate ravioli. As you roll the pin, it also removes all the air from the ravioli, which is very important. Carefully remove any extra dough hanging off the outside edges of the ravioli mold. Separate the 12 raviolis from one another. Flip ravioli mold to release ravioli. Repeat with the remaining dough to make 24 raviolis.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil ravioli for 5 minutes, drain and set aside. Alternatively, if you’re not cooking them immediately, place them on a baking sheet and put in the freezer. After they are frozen, place them in a plastic bag and keep frozen until needed.

To make sage cream sauce: combine half and half, sage and garlic in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Boil for 15 minutes. Pour the sauce through a sieve to remove the sage and garlic, or you can use a blender to puree the sage and garlic into the sauce. Stir in the cheese and serve on top of the ravioli.

Pumpkin Coffee "Cake"

This time of year everyone is cooking and baking with pumpkin. I was looking in a pumpkin thread on my cooking board and came across this Pumpkin Coffee Cake. I wanted something easy to bring to my parent's house for dessert one Sunday and this looked like just the thing.

I put cake in quotes in the title of this post because I wouldn't necessarily call this cake. I failed to read the directions, just the ingredient list, before making this recipe and since it called for a boxed cake mix I (wrongly) assumed it would have more of a cake consistency. In actuality, you make a wet mixture and top it with the cake mix, resulting in more of a pudding-like consistency on the bottom with a strudel-like top.

It was still really good, though. It makes a great dessert and everyone enjoyed it. And it couldn't have been easier to put together, something I truly appreciate when baking.

It was even better the next day with a little whipped cream. I microwaved a piece to take the chill off and it was perfection. It may not be cake-like, but it's definitely delicious.

Pumpkin Coffee "Cake"
As seen on Peace, Love and French Fries

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
15 oz can pumpkin puree
12 oz can evaporated milk
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a 9x13 dish with cooking spray.

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves together in a small bowl. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add in the pumpkin puree and sugar mixture. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk. Pour into the bottom of the prepared 9x13 dish.

Melt the butter, then add to the cake mix in a large bowl. Stir until combined. It should form a strudel-like mixture. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the pumpkin mixture.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the cake has set and the top starts to brown. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into pieces. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Cheese Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce

Every weekday morning the ladies on my cooking board post blog updates. One morning last week Coleen over at Does Not Cook Well With Others posted these Cheese Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce. It looked absolutely delicious and I immediately printed out the recipe.

Then I had second thoughts. Even though Coleen said the pumpkin flavor was very mild I couldn't imagine how it would taste. Sweet? Savory? I wasn't sure. Despite those misgiving I put it on the menu. I even bought fresh tortellini since our store had a coupon. I told myself I'd make the sauce, toss just one tortellini in it to see how it tasted and if it wasn't good I'd open a jar of sauce and call it dinner.

Thankfully the jar of sauce stayed in the pantry for another day. This was fantastic. The pumpkin flavor is very mild, just like Coleen said, and the cheese and onion help keep it savory. Even Baby Girl loved this. She's a pasta fiend so I wasn't worried, but she practically inhaled her serving and asked for more.

Cheese Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce
From Food Network, as seen on Does Not Cook Well with Others

2 (9-ounce) packages of fresh cheese tortellini
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small shallot, finely minced
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
Pinch of nutmeg (ground or fresh)
3/4 cup half and half
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
Salt and pepper

Bring a pot of generously-salted water to boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions. Reserve one cup of cooking water before draining. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and sauté, stirring often, until the shallot begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin and the nutmeg, and cook for a minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in the cream, and bring the mixture to a slow (not rolling) boil. Immediately reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese, and cook until the cheese melts and thickens the sauce, about another minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the tortellini to the skillet, and toss with the pumpkin alfredo sauce, adding some of the reserved cooking water to thin the sauce.

Divide among 4 plates and grate some Parmesan cheese over top.

Recipe Swap Roundup - Apple/Pumpkin

Fall is in the air and you know what that means - apple and pumpkin picking, which necessitates the need for apple and pumpkin recipes. As I suspected, this was another popular theme for the recipe swap. Most of the recipes are desserts but there are a few savory dishes thrown in as well. Happy Fall!

Melissa, a newcomer to the swap, made Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars:


Lishie's Mini Apple Pies are an adorable way to make this tasty treat:


Christen's recipe for Warm Apple Buttermilk Custard Pie would be a great addition to any Thanksgiving dessert table:


Joelen's recipe for Pumpkin Chili sneaks this sweet ingredient into a rich, savory chili that's perfect for fall:


The Cooking Nurse had been meaning to make this recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins for awhile, so she was excited when she got it as her swap recipe:


Nicole's recipe for Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting is a far cry from healthy, but she enjoyed a few and sent the rest to work with her husband:


Heather was very excited for the apple/pumpkin swap and enjoyed the Pumpkin Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:


Jey's Ginger Pumpkin (or Apple Cinnamon) Truffles were a little bite of fall:


Christine's Pumpkin Pecan Loaf was a special work treat:


My recipe for Goat Cheese, Sweet Onion, Apple and Brandy Chicken was good, if not the most photogenic:


Ashley modified her recipe for Pumpkin Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies to be gluten-free and was very happy with the result:


Swap newcomer Nicole was happy to expand her horizons with Pumpkin Bread Pudding:


Coleen was pleasantly surprised by how delicious her Pumpkin Pie Dip was:


Melissa's White Chocolate Pumpkin Blondies were a nice change from all the apple recipes she's been making recently:


Swap newcomer Ammie was excited to expand her horizons and make her own pastry shells for Pumpkin Profiteroles:


Katie's Starbucks Pumpkin Bread was a hit at her girls' weekend:


Jaida really enjoyed her Apple Butter Pound Cake, as did her coworkers:


Kate had been enjoying a similar recipe for Apple Walnut Chicken Salad all summer:


Lindsay really enjoyed her Cran-Apple, White Chocolate Chip Cookies, which she deemed the perfect autumn cookie:


Cathy's family loved her recipe for Caramel Apple Tart, especially the caramel:


Krystal enjoyed her Apple-Bacon Stuffed Pork Chops:


Rachel, another swap newcomer, modified her recipe into an Apple, Bacon, Cheddar Quiche:


Tyler had a few mishaps with her Mrs. Field's Apple Oatmeal Cookies but the result was worth the effort:


Maryanna really enjoyed her individual Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread Muffins:

The Cookaholic Wife used her recipe for Pumpkin Pie Pecan Candy to usher in fall:


Nicole had my recipe, which she modified into Caramel Apple Pie Cupcakes:


Melissa shared her Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes with friends and family for Fall Fest and they were a hit:


Ellie was concerned that she wouldn't be able to pull of her Apple Croissant Bread Pudding but it ended up being super simple and delicious:

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Look what I made:


Yes, it's a cupcake. And I made it from scratch. Even the frosting. Go me! I wonder how long I can claim not to be a baker...

I had a lot of pumpkin leftover from the pumpkin roll I made last weekend, so when my mom asked me to bring dessert for dinner tonight I asked my cooking board for recommendations for pumpking cupcakes. Here they are hot out of the oven:


While the cupcakes cooled I made the cream cheese frosting:


After the cupcakes cooled completely:


... I frosted them with a liberal amount of the cream cheese frosting:


Yum! They smelled fantastic while they were baking, but I haven't tried them yet because I don't want to spoil my dinner.

I ended up combining two of the recipes recommended by my cooking board since I didn't want to buy anything I didn't already have on hand.

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes
Recipe from Annie's Eats

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (15 oz.) solid-packed pumpkin (about 1 ¾ cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line muffin tins with decorative cupcake papers.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.

Add the flour mixture in three additions, stirring with a large wooden spoon until just combined. Fill the muffin tins about three-fourths full. Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the tins to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the tins and let cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe from Sherri

4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
5 cups confectioner's sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat. Add sugar one cup at a time and continue to beat an additional 5 minutes.