Knottie Recipes

pasta with pumpkin and sausage

We love this great fall pasta dish and so does everyone for whom I've made it. So unusual and so easy. By changing the kind of sausage you put in it, you can accommodate lots of kinds of eaters--regular sausage, turkey sausage, chicken sausage, veggie sausage. From Rachael Ray--who doesn't love her?? Serve this up with a simple salad and you have a fabulous healthy meal (pumpkin is loaded with nutrients and high in fiber--get a penne that's high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids and use a healthier sausage, and you've got a real winner).

Prep time: 10 minutes; cook time: 15 minutes

1 T. extra virgin olive oil, + 1 T.
1 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage (or if I can't find that, which I often can't, I buy the links and just take them out of the casings)
4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped (yep, I cheat and have a jar of minced garlic in my fridge)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I bet you could use frozen)
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
4-6 sprigs sage leafs, cut into chiffonade, about 2 T.
1 c. dry white wine (if you're not a wine drinker or don't have any handy, try apple cider!)
1 c. chicken stock
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. heavy cream (make it low-fat by using fat-free half-and-half or soy milk)
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
coarse salt and black pepper
1 lb. penne, cooked al dente
Romano or Parmigiano for grating

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 T. olive oil to the pan (I never use this much, actually) and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel-lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add teh remaining T. oil, and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3-5 minutes until the onions are tender.
Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5-10 minutes to thicken sauce.
Return drained pasta to the pot in which you cooked it. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage-pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

This sounds like a really odd combination, but they're really good!  I took a batch to work and they loved them.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 15 oz can pumpkin
• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until well combined.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Stir into the pumpkin mixture.
4. Stir in the Chocolate chips.
5. Using an ice cream scoop, drop batter onto cookie sheets and flatten a bit.  (these cookies will not flatten or round out as they bake, how the look when they go in the oven is how they look when they come out!)
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes in the oven, until the edges begin to brown.  Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.