Italian Side Dish with a Pumpkin Twist

Italian Side Dish with a Pumpkin Twist

This recipe comes via Jyll Everman and Food and Wine. Jyll did this demonstration on Fine Cooking promoting BelGioioso cheese. I made put some of the stuffed shells in a dish with marinara sauce and some in a dish with a savory pumpkin sauce from Food and Wine. This is a great dish anytime but was really nice just before Thanksgiving.

Stir together the following ingredients

* ricotta cheese

* frozen spinach, squeeze out excess water and chop

* pine nuts

* 1 egg

* parmesan cheese

* fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh

* flat leaf parsley

* S&P

Boil pasta shells al dente.

Stuff the shells

Spread either marainar or pumpkin sauce in the bottom of a pan.

place the stuffed shells on top.

Dollop sauce on top of the shells.

Cover with foil and bake. 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Broil for a few minutes.

Top with flat leaf parsley.

Savory Pumpkin Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium red onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh sage

One 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 

plus more for serving

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion, garlic and sage and cook over moderately low heat until the onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor. Add the pumpkin puree and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Scrape the pumpkin puree into the pot and cook over moderately low heat until hot. Mix in the mascarpone and the 1/4 cup of grated cheese.