Any day now, one of our national channels will be showing the classic animated special, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  It seems only fitting that I break out my pumpkin recipes this week (if you don’t like pumpkin, you may want to check back next week!) in honor of this seasonal favorite.  My first recipe is the savory Pumpkin-Ricotta Stuffed Shells.

Jumbo shells are filled with pumpkin, ricotta, cheese, and fresh herbs and baked in tomato sauce.  These shells are SO good!  The woodsy sage in the ricotta mixture blends well with the pumpkin and the basil provides a freshness to the whole dish.   Stuffed shells sometimes seem more work than they are worth but if you use a storage or freezer bag to stuff the shells, the whole process will be much easier.

The ingredients:

First, cook the shells and set aside to cool.  Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.

In a bowl, mix together ricotta, pumpkin, cheese, sage, basil, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Fill the shells with with pumpkin-ricotta mixture.

Top with more cheese and bake shells in a thin layer of tomato sauce at 350ºF.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

• Parmesan cheese for pecorino-romano

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

I had a friend over for dinner who was craving some pasta so I decided to make Linguine with Two-Cheese Sauce.  It tasted like a lighter (and just as good) version of fettucine alfredo.  Instead of heavy cream, butter and loads of parmesan, this recipe is made with milk, a little olive oil, a little parmesan and an even littler bit of mascarpone cheese.  The addition of the basil gives it that extra bit of fresh flavor and some fresh-cracked black pepper gives it just a hint of kick.  My friend loved it so much, he had two helpings and trust me, it’s hard not to.

Additions:  A small handful of pecorino-romano

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine