Pumpkin Soup

Here are the ingredients I used:

Yellow onion, diced
a whole bunch of pumpkin (I used canned because I am lazy, but it would have been better if I made puree)
Heavy cream
brown sugar
Garam Masala (a special Indian spice blend. It's delicious)
Curry powder
two bay leaves
a cinnamon stick
allspice
Salt
White pepper
chicken broth
a splash of orange juice - this really helps bring it all together
and one finely diced Death Pepper. I'm not sure what the Death Pepper is actually called, but I gave it that name because it got into my hangnail and ruined my life for about two hours. Nikki got us a pepper plant from Trader Joe's as a housewarming gift, and I chopped one of the little fuckers up to stick in the soup.

Note that the soup filled most of my Dutch oven, and one death pepper was enough to make it pretty hot. Adjust as you like. I liked the spicy to help brighten the sweetness and heaviness of the pumpkin. I also would have used worcestershire sauce if I had it, but I didn't, so there you go.

Sautee the onions first in olive oil, then add all the spices. You'll want more of the curry and garam masala than anything else. Note that when I made it, it really sucked up salt, so I had to keep adding it. Toss in the pumpkin (I think I used a big can and a small can), a pint of cream, and enough chicken broth to thin it out to a sufficiently soupy consistency. Add in the death pepper. Let this simmer for a while (like 3-4 hours) and then fish out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. With a hand blender, blend the soup for a nice smooth consistency. If you want to give your guests a real challenge, I suppose you could leave the cinnamon stick in there, but it's a bitch to get out of your teeth. When I made it, I only found one of my two bay leaves, and blended it anyway. No one complained about biting into it, so I assume it must have gone home with whoever took home leftovers.

My rule is, if you got the bay leaf, you make the soup next time. So far no one has admitted to getting the leaf.

The real trick is letting it cook all day long, so that the flavors have time to marry up. It was even better a few days later. I wish I had cooked this a day or two before the dinner, but alas.

For toppings, I had sour cream, bacon bits, sauteed shallots and a garam masala Parmesan chip. To make a Parmesan chip, I grated the cheese and crumbled it as fine as I could get it with my fingers. Then I added garam masala and brown sugar and combined it all thoroughly. Take a non-stick pan, and sprinkle in enough of the cheese to make a silver dollar-sized circle. Turn up the heat and let the cheese melt until it bubbles. Then turn off the heat, and CAREFULLY with a THIN spatula, pry the little bastards up and stick them CAREFULLY on some parchment paper so that you don't ruin the nice circle shape, and they can harden. Then they'll be crispy and delicious. You can also do this with just plain cheese, and it's a really nice topper for a salad.

Cappellacci di Zucca (Pumpkin Ravioli)

I have to start off by apologizing for the quality (or lack thereof) of the photos this time around.  Lighting is pretty much everything when it comes to photography, and our dinners tend to run longer than the sun is willing to stay up, so I've ended up with pictures like this which make my food look like a hot buttered mess!  (The first two words of that term are actually true for this dish.)

I stole this recipe from one of my favorite restaurants, L'Opera Ristorante in Long Beach.  I've eaten there many times, and every time I get the same thing.  I finally started trying to pick apart the flavors each time I ate the dish to decipher their delicious code.  I think I may have finally landed on it.  L'Opera's ravioli is made with butternut squash, but I switched it with pumpkin, and added a few of my own touches.

I used wonton wrappers for the little hats, partly because they're cute, but mostly because the idea of making my own pasta while moving into a new house was daunting.  My advice to anyone attempting to make this dish with wonton wrappers is DOUBLE THEM!  Most of the ravioli held up to being boiled, but there were a good number of rogue bursters that came apart during the process.  Doubling the wontons before stuffing them would've prevented this from happening.

Still, the dish came out beautifully, if I do say so myself.  My only regret is that the plate looked a little two-dimensional, and that I didn't get a decent picture.  But that's just an excuse to recreate them, right?

Ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup brandy (to taste)
6 tablespoons ground pine nuts (I used a coffee grinder to get a good consistency)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 package wonton wrappers
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup unsalted butter
a handful of fresh sage
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used Yellow Tail chardonnay)
3 cups plain marinara sauce (homemade or Classico - if I catch you using Prego I'll cut you)
salt, pepper, chili flakes to taste
parmesan shavings for garnish/extra deliciousness

Ravioli:

Mix together the pumpkin puree, ricotta, brandy, pine nuts and brown sugar until incorporated.  Place in a sieve over a bowl for a couple hours to let the mixture drain.  Once firm, scoop the mixture by the teaspoonful and place in the center of the wonton wrappers (or homemade pasta, if you're awesome).  Fold the wrapper in half diagonally, then fold each of the corners in, to create a little hat-like thing.  Repeat until you think you have enough ravioli to feed yourself.  Er ... I mean, your guests.  Place them on a generously-floured cookie sheet and refrigerate until serving time.

Brown butter sage sauce:

In a small saucepan, melt the 1/2 cup of butter on a medium-low heat.  Midway through the melting, throw in the handful of sage - I'd estimate about 20 leaves.  Stir occasionally until the butter reaches a golden brown color.  Remove from heat.  Pour 1/4 cup white wine into the butter for bite.

Spicy marinara:

Easy as pie.  Warm the marinara with the reserved 1/4 cup of butter.  Add about 2 teaspoons of chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste.  Let simmer.

Create a bed of spicy marinara sauce in the center of a plate.  Boil your ravioli, place in a circle around the sauce, then pour a healthy serving of the brown butter sage sauce on top.  Finish with a piece of crispy sage and a parmesan cheese shaving atop each pillow, and serve.