Pumpkin Squash Pasta. . . . . . . . .

Friday I made a great, quick and easy dish calling for pumpkin or squash.

I actually used what I'm calling a 'pumpkin squash', a bit of a rogue harvested

 from the fields of our farm friends, the Johnsons, where we visited a few weeks ago.

Apparently this year, one of their regular pumpkins also grows this curvaceous beauty

on the same vine!  Similar to a butternut squash but easier to cut through for me.

All seeds are in the bulbous end so with such a long neck you get a lot of

flesh from there. The flavor is mild so I roasted along with chopped garlic, 

red onion and a couple of slightly hot peppers from my neighbor's garden.

Tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, 40mins. in the oven brought all the

flavors together nicely.

I cooked a short pasta, Garafolo brand from Naples which I really like, added just 

enough of the excellent pumpkin and butternut squash sauce - a real steal from

 Aldi - freshly chopped parsley still being snipped from the garden, toasted

 chopped walnuts, topped with creamy burrata cheese and course some

grated parmigiano reggiano.

We enjoyed this meal immensely - along with a robust red wine - in the gazebo on

 what was a perfect autumn evening. Nothing stirring but the numerous late diners

 at the bird feeders, a few squirrels enjoying the seeds on the ground, and the

 sunset glowing in the west beyond our huge oaks.

We have a new little friend in the garden - I'll share some photos soon. 

Last evening, while relaxing on the front porch at dusk, we had a huge rabbit

 sitting in the center of the lawn when a young fox passed by within yards of it,

 not even giving the rabbit a second glance, thankfully!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend and have good weather to

get outside and revel in autumn's beauty. We worked endlessly in the 

garden both Friday and Saturday in what currently is perfect weather, so 

evening relaxation has been extra special here at the cottage.

Nutty Pasta Dish. . . . . . . . .

I made a tasty pasta dish a couple of days back - recipe from Brian Glover's 

great little cook book ~ Cooking with Pumpkins and Squash ~

(pub. 2008 Ryland Peters & Small)

Brian has always been my favorite British chef having written food articles 

and shared recipes in many UK magazines besides his published cook books.

Chef Glover's dish above ~ my bowl below.

Pasta with Pan-Fried Squash, Walnut, and Parsley Sauce

Perfect for the cooler season when walnuts and orange-fleshed squashes are 

at their best. Traditionally, a version of this walnut sauce is served with pappardelle 

pasta in northern Italy, but you can use other shapes successfully if you don't have 

that particular one on hand. I used Trader Joe's Lemon Pappardelle which is great, 

and a butternut squash.

To serve 4

1-1/4 cups fresh walnut halves

3 fat garlic cloves, peeled

5 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon Walnut Oil

5 Tablespoons heavy cream or creme fraiche

Small bunch flat leaf parsley

1-1/2 lbs. peeled squash, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices or chunks

1-2 pinches dried hot pepper flakes, crushed

14 oz. pasta of your choice

Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve

Preheat oven to 350F. Toast walnuts on a baking sheet for 5-6 mins. 

making sure they don't burn!

Rub vigorously in a clean tea towel to remove as much skin as possible.

Roughly chop 1/3 of nuts and set aside. Put remaining nuts in a food processor.

Blanch garlic in boiling water 2 mins., drain, rinse and add to food processor.

Add 2 Tblsp. olive oil, the walnut oil and cream. Whizz to make a paste. 

Set aside a third of the parsley, then whizz remaining two-thirds into the sauce. 

Chop reserved parsley and set aside.

Leave sauce in processor until needed.

In large frying pan heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat,

add the squash and hot pepper flakes and cook, turning squash now and then,

until tender and lightly browned, about 10-12 mins.

Meanwhile bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil and cook pasta 

according to package directions.

When pasta is cooked, drain, reserving 4-5 tablespoons of the cooking water. 

Whizz enough of this water into sauce to make it creamy, then season with salt, 

pepper, and a little nutmeg. 

Toss pasta with the sauce, squash, remaining chopped walnuts and parsley.

Sprinkle with cheese at the table.

I was able to grab two copies of this cook book on Amazon recently. One went to 
my newly married, extremely creative granddaughter Cassie who's a great cook - visit 
her fabulous blog HERE. I'm loving my copy and plan to be rustling up more 
hearty dishes from this little cookery gem soon.

Buon appetito!

Kitchen in Winter. . . . . . . .

It's Sunday morning and I have nothing exceptional to write about. 
Winter teases us with icy claws, damp fogs, cold rain, occasional sunshine, 
lip blistering winds, even snow in many places.  
January seems to be dragging here in the southeast, perhaps because we all 
seem to still be awaiting real Winter weather which, to date, hasn't arrived. 
We've had some very cold days and nights, but we would like a 

little snow, after all what's Winter without at least a dusting of the white stuff,
and the garden would enjoy the moisture.
The wellies/snow boots stand waiting near the door. The old gloves with 
the holes have been darned ready for throwing snowballs and building a 
snow person. Mufflers and warm ear-covering hats are hanging on the 
peg. . . . .and there's plenty of hot chocolate waiting to be brewed to fill 
those hand warming mugs.

The Winter kitchen here at the cottage continues to bubble, steam, sizzle at 

different times of the day. We still enjoy eating at home rather than restaurants.

Although I'm the vegetarian, now and then I fix a meat dish for my dearest. 

This past week I made him a savory beef stew - it even smelled appetizing to me.

I used my dear mother's old recipe, she called it 'braised beef', just beef, onions, 

carrots, good quality beef bouillon, seasoning, all cooked together long and 

slow, then thickened with a little cornstarch and served with mashed potatoes.

Today however the kitchen will be strictly a place to 'veg out' in.

I have a chubby butternut squash awaiting the chef's knife and 

I'll be pulling together this simple, but tasty, small plate found in an 

old UK magazine. 

Roast Butternut Squash 

with Goat's Cheese, Sage & Garlic

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cut into pieces

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

150g (5 oz) medium-to-mature goat's cheese log 

Handful of fresh sage leaves

5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

Preheat oven to 350F (180C or gas 6)

Toss squash pieces in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and

salt and pepper to taste.

Heat large frying pan over med-high heat and sear squash pieces

about 2 mins. on each side - do in batches if necessary. 

Transfer pieces to a roasting pan, snuggled up in a single layer.

Trim ends from cheese and slice log, laying slices on top of 

squash pieces. Scatter sage leaves on top and drizzle with 

2 tablespoons of oil, especially on the leaves.

Roast for 20 mins., then toss garlic with remaining tablespoon 

of oil, scatter over and roast another 10-15 mins. until cheese 

is golden.

Serve straight away.

We'll enjoy this tonight alongside a slice, or two, of 

Leek and Mushroom Flatbread/Pizza - if anyone would like that recipe, 

a delicious very easy version, leave a note in a comment please.

We'll light a fire, sip a glass of excellent Layer Cake Malbec 

from Argentina, and get ready for Downton Abbey of course.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Doing anything special you'd like to share?

Edited: 8:00 PM Sunday

Here's my version - this is the first time I've made it!

Very good, but I think I'd use less goat cheese next time, just the recipe 

amount - I doubled up because I had to use up a larger roll of cheese, made it 

very rich. The fresh sage is definitely required, it looks dark but doesn't burn, 

just gets very crispy and delicious. Also, do use plenty of garlic, it really adds 

great flavor to this dish.