Roasted Pumpkin Sage and Parmesan Pasta

 

It’s a winter wonderland outside today.  Last I checked they are calling for 20 – 40 cm’s of snow and or 20 – 40 mm or rain.  Either way it’s going to be a big mess.  Glad I’m cozied up at home with the fur kids.

I was planning on doing some cooking or baking today but I think it’s going to be mostly a study day.  I do have to make some dog food  so I guess you can count that as cooking.

I was looking through my pictures the other day and realized I hadn’t posted this recipe yet.  This was my second attempt at making my own pasta and my first attempt at Fettuccini.  I did run into a little bit of a problem, as the noodles were coming out of the pasta rollers…where and how was I going to dry the pasta.  I didn’t have anywhere to hang it so I frantically dug out some all of my cookie sheets and spreading the noodles out to dry.  It worked but was less than practical.  That problem has since been remedied.  My honey bought me the KA pasta drying rack for Christmas.  That should save some counter space.

 

Roasted Pumpkin Sage and Parmesan Pasta

• 2 cups fresh fettuccini noodles
• 1 small – med pumpkin roasted
• 1 large shallot finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1/3 cup pureed roasted pumpkin
• 1/2 – 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/4 fresh grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup milk or cream
• 2 tbsp pasta water
• 2  - 3 slices pancetta (or bacon), cooked till crispy
• fresh grated nutmeg or a pinch of already ground
• salt and pepper

Cut pumpkin in half.  Scoop out seeds. Sprinkle with a little salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Roast until flesh is tender.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions.

Chop pancetta (bacon), and cook till crisp.  Remove from pan and drain off most of the fat.  If you don’t want to use some of the bacon fat you can drain it all off and use EVOO.  Add garlic and shallots to the pan and saute till soft.  Add pureed pumpkin, sage, salt, pepper, milk and 2 tbsp of the pasta cooking water.  Grate some fresh nutmeg in the pan.  Turn heat to low and warm through.

Add cooked pasta to the sauce and a little more pasta water if necessary.  Add parmesan stir till combined.  Top with pancetta/bacon pieces, a bit more fresh grated parmesan and a little ground black pepper.

 

 

    

When I made this I used between 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of sage but I thought it needed more so I increased the measurements.  I would suggest starting off with the smaller amount and go from there.  I’m not sure how this would taste with canned pumpkin.  I find canned pumpkin doesn’t work as well in savoury dishes so if you try it post a comment and let me know how it turned out.

Have a great Sunday!!  Enjoy the Superbowl if that’s your thing.  I’m off to get some studying done.  This weeks topic Optimum Nutrition for the Mind.

~ Jackie

Weekend Plans + Photo Post

It finally arrived... the weekend's here!!  For me as I'm sure for most of you, I can't wait for the work week to get over and the weekend to arrive.  Maybe it's because I'm getting older now, but I'm quite happy to spend the weekend relaxing watching a movie, cooking in the kitchen, reading a good book or going for a stroll.  I don't have that need to be on the go and looking for the next big event or party.  Gone are the days when I was out till all hours of the night every weekend, once in awhile is fine with me.

So my plans for the weekend include most of the above with some studying and probably a glass or two of wine thrown in there.  My kitchen plans include trying out the new pasta roller attachment  for the KitchenAid.  I'm hoping to make some homemade lasagna noodles for some pumpkin lasagna ... wish me luck.  I'm also planning some Roasted Butternut Squash soup, fudge (with a secret ingredient), and I suppose I should throw something in there that Tom likes so probably a steak and some roasted potatoes.

Fingers crossed I'll have some yummy food to share with you after the weekend.  Until then I'll leave you with a photo post.  I've had my new camera for about a year now and have really done nothing with it, so I thought it was about time I start trying to take some more thoughtful pictures and learn how to use the umpteen different settings.  I also need to learn how to take better food pics now that fall / winter are upon us and the lighting in the house leaves a lot to be desired.

Have a great weekend everyone.  Hopefully I have success in the kitchen this weekend and I'll be back with some delicious eats for you.

~ Jackie

Catching Up & A Pasta Party

Hope you all had a fantabulous weekend.  It's been sunny and gorgeous in my neck of the woods.  Two weekends in a row.  Hopefully this doesn't turn out to be our summer.


In case you haven't noticed it's been a few weeks, I mean months since I posted more than once.  I thought I would do a quick recap of what's been going on with my life.


Last I checked in I was attempting to sell my house.  Well it FINALLY sold in November.  Let me just say that was possibly the worst experience ever.  My divorce was easier than that.  Mostly because it was a rental so it sat empty for seven months.  Thant meant extra mortgage payments, power etc. I was not in my happy place during that process. I really was sad to see it go.  I loved my house, but didn't want to risk having horrible tenants.


There's been a whole lot of learning going on over here too.  I finally made a commitment to something I have wanted to do for a long time and enrolled in the RHN (Registered Holistic Nutritionist) program at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition.  It's challenging to say the least and my poor old brain is getting a workout.  It's been 20 years since I've been in school so you can only imagine what a change it is.  On top of the course I've been taking quite a few nutrition related workshops too. Information overload.

Something else new and exciting is, I've been introduced to the wonderful world of Aromatherapy.  I've been taking some courses at Casaroma Wellness in Dartmouth and am amazed by all there is too learn about it. There's so much more to it than just pretty smells.  The endless number of things you can accomplish with aromatherapy instead of putting a million chemicals in and on your body it's amazing. 


Once you start learning about all the nasty stuff that's in the products we use every day on our skin, on our kids skin and not to mention what we put into our bodies...well it's scary!!  The hidden things in food and what they say is ok for us to eat or put on our skin, in you cleaning products etc. It's just not a good thing.  


I'd like to say I've been a workout machine and am in the best shape of my life since the last time I was here but I can't. I've been plagued with chronic tendinitis in my shoulders and knees, and I've been fighting what seems to be a losing battle over the last year with my thyroid.  Although I'm hoping it will improve soon.  Plus I've come up with a new mysterious issue that my lymph system doesn't seem to be working as it should.  So I've been stuck with constantly swollen legs, ankles and feet. All that combined with a lack of motivation has resulted in a 20 - 25lb weight gain.  This of course doesn't make me happy and I'm annoyed that the majority of the clothes in the closet don't fit anymore but I'm confident it will change.  My main goal is health and once that falls into place I know I'll be at my happy or at least my happier weight once again.


There was another first over here yesterday.  I made my own pasta for the first time.  I got this KA attachment for Christmas but have been afraid to try it out.  I don't know why but the thought of making pasta scared me.

I thought I'd start off simple and made a basic egg pasta.  It turned out really good. If I could make it fresh each time I wanted pasta I would. So much better than anything you can buy.  Hubby even liked it.. woo hoo!!  I made some fusili and rigatoni.  I preferred the fusili but I think I had the speed to high on the rigatoni and it turned out a little thicker than it should be.  

I wanted to taste the pasta when I gave mine a try so I kept it simple  - butter, fresh grated Parmesan and fresh ground black pepper... Delish!!

I guess it wasn't really a quick catch up, but I think that's everything I had for you.

Have a great week everyone, don't work too hard!!

~~ Jackie 

Girls Have Power Tools Too

Before I get to that a couple of  other things to share.
Today was a pretty basic Tuesday up until I left work that is.  I ran into an old friend whom I haven’t seen in 10 years.  I knew he was in town but didn’t think we would get a chance to catch up since he would be spending most of his time with family and showing his GF our beautiful province.  Anyway I stopped in Shoppers after work and he was walking out as I was going in. We had a great chat and hopefully they will have time to visit before they head back home to Florida.
After that it was off to the Dr.  I have been finding my GP to be a little wishy washy lately.  One visit she says one thing and the next something else.  Then sometimes it’s like she has forgotten my history altogether (I’ve been seeing her since I was 14).  Anyway, at my last appointment I told her I needed my thyroid medication adjusted, she looked at my blood work and said no,  that my levels were fine and she didn’t think it was necessary to do so.  She figured my issues were to do with my Sarcoidosis and sent me back to the specialist.  I knew better, so I took matters into my own hands and adjusted the dosage myself until I could get back in to see her.  Today, I told her I wanted the dosage adjusted and told her what I had done.  She looked back at the same blood test results as last time and said, “I don’t have a problem with that.  You’re levels can go down to  0.3 and I”m ok with that” (My levels are currently at 3.0)  So why is it ok to change and before when I asked she was very adamant that my levels shouldn’t do any lower.  It could have saved me a whole lot of grief, months of feeling like crap and not to mention I wouldn’t have an extra 10-15 lbs on my body.  Sooooo frustrating.  Now I have officially switched over to the new dose and hopefully I will be feeling better soon.  Unfortunately even with the new dose I will still have to fight to get this extra weight off. 
Now on to the fun stuff, my version of power tools.  A couple of weeks ago I flipped on The Shopping Channel and this baby was on sale.  Something you don’t know about me is I am a sucker for an infomercial.  It was just a matter of time before I got out the credit card and ordered.
                        Isn’t she pretty!!
The feed shoot is extra large which really comes in handy. It also came with five extra blades, a juicer (I’m sure that will never get used) and a dough blade.  The one I was really excited about was the French Fry blade.  I make sweet potato fries all the time but hate cutting them up. It worked great, I think it took 2 seconds to do one potato.
    
                     
The first thing I made was the much loved and favorite in the blog world,  Banana Soft Serve.
                
I love this stuff.  It is so quick and easy to make and the combinations are pretty much endless.  Since I can’t have milk I get to enjoy ice cream again!!! 
The kitties got a new toy too … 
         
My honey is home early tonight so I’m going to spend some QT with him
~~Jackie

.... AND THE NEW YEAR BEGINS

I really can't believe the holidays have come and gone for another year. It seems 2009 has just flown by, and December came and went before I knew it. Christmas was great. I enjoyed spending time with family and friends. It appears I was a very good girl this year too judging by my Christmas loot. People always say you shouldn't give your spouse appliances or kitchen implements for Christmas, so I guess I am an exception to that rule. I love, love, love getting kitchen stuff. Here are some of my favorites this year.

Since we bought a propane stove I have been complaining about my pots and pans. They were great for the electric stove but for the heat of the propane, not so much. Everything burns. This was the start of my new collection - Cast Iron KitchenAid - I'm hoping for better luck with these.

A couple of years back I splurged and bought myself a Henckel Chef's Knife, and have been wanting more ever since, but couldn't justify the cost. They are pricey but soooooo worth it. You will never go back to a regular knife once you have tried one of these. My honey got me the full set and then bought me a 10" Grohmann Chef's knife. I've never tried them before but a chef he knows said they were the ones he uses. They are made right here in Nova Scotia. I haven't tried it yet but can't wait to get slicing and dicing.

Here are a couple of my fun presents.

Animal Zoo - Silicone Pot Mitts and Another frog for my collection























Oh yeah, I almost forgot.



This is the Rachael Ray Oval pot. It's made for cooking long pasta so you don't have to break it or smoosh (I think that's the technical term) it down in the pot, something that has always annoyed me. She uses her pots on a gas stove so I'm hoping it will stand up to the propane.














That's all for now. Happy New Year!!!