When the social media channels begin showing images of pumpkins and costumes, you know it is time to bring out the rotation of fall dishes. While you may have your routine comfort dishes that you make and eat every season, this fall, try these cozy recipes to warm you up all season long.
Pumpkin Lasagna
Gourds are common fall foods. Pumpkin is in all the fall-drinks, why not try it in a pasta dish. The ultimate comfort dish for the cooler temperatures is lasagna, so mix the two together and what do you have – pumpkin lasagna!
Ingredients:
Butter
Garlic cloves
1 Chopped Onion
1 tsp dried sage
3 cans of pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 15 oz container of ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup parmesan
1 egg beaten
1 box of lasagna noodles
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Sauté butter, chopped garlic, and onion until the onions are soft. Add in sage, pumpkin, maple syrup, and nutmeg and season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat in a sauté pan until warmed.
In a mixing bowl, combine the cheeses (reserving 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and the parmesan for topping) and egg.
In a 9 x 13 baking dish, spray with no-stick spray. Put a small layer of pumpkin mix on the bottom of the dish so that the noodles do not move when you lay them down. Lay noodles down and rotate between layering noodles, pumpkin, and cheese for three layers. Top with mozzarella and parmesan.
Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and heat over to 400 degrees and cook until cheese is melted.
If you want to add meat, you could add sausage to the pumpkin sauce, but the flavors are perfectly fall and delicious.
Stuffed Butternut Squash
Another fall gourd is the butternut squash. There are many ways to stuff the squash, and you really can’t go wrong. The preparation of the squash is the same.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash halves and place the squash halves cut side down. Bake for 30 minutes. Once the skin begins to brown, flip the squash and season with salt, pepper, and baste with oil or butter. Combining butter and brown sugar will lead to the caramelization of the squash, creating a great background for any dish.
Stuffing ideas:
- Bread stuffing
- Cranberries
- Chickpeas
- Kale
- Chopped Apples
- Walnuts
- Italian Sausage
- Quinoa
- Pumpkin seeds
Mix your favorite stuffing together. Make sure that any meat is cooked before mixing in other fillings. Top with melted butter mixed with your favorite combination of spices like ginger, nutmeg, sage, oregano and cinnamon.
Shepherd’s Pie
A classic dish in the UK, cottage pie or Shepard’s pie, is a layered pie of meat and potatoes – it’s a comfort dish.
Ingredients
Ground lamb
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 TBL Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped onion
3 minced garlic cloves
2 TBL all purpose flour
2 TBL tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
2 cup frozen mixed vegetables
For Mashed Potatoes:
2 pounds of russet potatoes cut into one-inch cubes
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/3 cup of milk
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions:
Heat oil in saucepan and cook onions until translucent. Add ground lamb, add in seasonings, and cook until all brown. Once mixed, add in Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Cook until garlic is fragrant. Add in flour and tomato paste until everything is well combined. Slowly add in broth and combine. Then add in frozen veggies. Heat until simmer and heat through.
While making the meat, make sure to get the potatoes covered in water and cook until fork tender. Don’t forget to salt the water! Once the potatoes are fork tender, mash the potatoes and add in butter, milk and seasonings, mix them all together.
Layer the meat mixture into a 9 x 13 dish and then spoon potato mash on top.
Make it vegetarian by omitting meat and use cubed butternut squash instead!
Pumpkin Ravioli
Another great pasta dish, but with a shortcut so you don’t have to make pasta.
Ingredients:
Salted butter
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 can of pumpkin puree
Kosher Salt
½ chili powder
¼ cup pine nuts
36 whole wonton wrappers
1 egg
Black pepper
Fresh parmesan cheese
Instructions:
To make the filling, melt 2 TBLP salted butter and cook garlic until fragrant. Add one can of pumpkin puree and add salt and chili powder. Cook until mixture is combined.
Toast pine nuts until golden brown. Pull out nuts into a separate dish. In the same saucepan, melt ½ cup of salted butter and let bubble until golden brown – this is the sauce!
Lay out ½ of the wonton wrappers. Place a spoonful of pumpkin puree into the wrapper. Beat one egg with one tablespoon of water and brush egg mixture on outside of wonton wrapper. Place wrapper on top and press edges together with finger. Once all ravioli is made, put them to the side.
Bring a pot of salted water to boil, and place 3-4 ravioli in at a time. Cook each ravioli for about 2 minutes and then pull our with slotted spoon. Complete all ravioli until all are cooked.
To serve, top with toasted pine nuts and brown butter. Yum, yum, extra yum!
What are your favorite fall dishes?
