An amazing mix of flavors to enjoy this funny night

Do you fancy a nice cozy dish for Halloween? If you are going to give a party at home, or going out fancy dressed and full of make up or if you are just ready to wait the children at home for they sweets or tricks, why don't treat yourself with a nice Halloween pasta soup?
 
And if you are carving a pumpkin for your Halloween this is the perfect recipe for you!

For 3 people you will need few simple ingredients:

• 200gr lentils
• 150 gr of pumpking (I prefer butternut squash)
• 200 gr pasta Mista Corta Pastificio Dei Campi
• 1/2 carrot
• 1 celery
• 1/2 onion
• Oil, salt and rosemary

Start preparing a “soffritto” cutting finely the onion, the carot and the celery and fry them in a sauce pan with some olive oil. Then add the lentils (already soaked) and around a litre of water.  Here I added some fresh rosemary  and salt.

Let the lentils cook for some minutes and in the meantime peal the pumpking and cut it in little cubes. Add the pumpking to the rest and let everything cook other 10-20 minutes at least.

When you think it’s everything almost ready, add some more hot water and the pasta. Let it cook with the lentils and the pumpkin but check always the time.

If you didn’t add to much water, this will be evaporated leaving a dense soup after around 10 minutes, time for the pasta to be cooked too. If you want the soup less dense just add more water.

Now the pasta soup is  ready and you can serve it with some fresh rosemary and olive oil.

Enjoy your Halloween night!

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The recipe chosen after the british cheese week

 
It's definitely autumn and almost Halloween and so have to be the season also for... pumpkins! I love them but I admit I cook them really rarely. Pumpkins are so sweet and tasty and they go so well with certain herbs that every recipe is a new discovery.
This time I decided to use the butternut squash and a special cheese I bought from the british cheese week!

I went in fact to Neal's Yard Dairy last week, the amazing cheese shop that you can see in these pictures. I was looking for the Kilree Goat's Cheese that won lots of prices this year, but I couldn’t find it so they gave me a  very interesting cheese to cook with: Berkeswell an unpasteurized sheep's milk cheese , creamy, with nutty flavor and a bit different from the average english cheeses as also Chrispople says on his blog.

  I then thought about pumpkins and  I found an interesting recipe with cream of pumpkins and salted pumpkins, rosemary, pumpkins seeds and pancetta... but then I also saw some streaky bacon and it was a deal.
 
This is the recipe for 3 people:
 
- 300 gr Pennoni Pastificio dei Campi

- a little butternut squash,

- 150gr of Berkswell cheese,

- onion

- rosemary

- some pumpkins seeds,

- olive oil,

- butter salt

- and streaky bacon .

Let’s start by the cream: in a sauce pan put some finely chopped onions and olive oil. Let the onions get goldish and then add the pumpkin pealed and cut in little cubes. Add some white wine and when evaporated, some salt and just water. At this point I also added some rosemary.
When the pumpkin was almost melted I added the cheese in little cubes too (leaving some of it a part) and I stirred until all became a cream. You can use even the blender if you want.

While the water for the pasta was boiling, in another pan I put the rest (1/3) of the pumpkin cut in julienne (little sticks) with a bit of butter, rosemary and pumpkin seeds.
I added some salt to the pumpkin and the streaky bacon… just amazing colors all together and the smell was great.
When the pasta was al dente I added the pasta to the pan with the cream of pumpkin and the rest. I toss it all on a low fire and then I served it with some more grated cheese on top, fresh rosemary and pumpkin seeds.
A nice way to welcome the autumn! I hope you will enjoy like we did!

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All the best flavors from the autumn for a vegetarian pasta 

- 600gr pumpkin already clean (it's better the taste of the bigger pumpkin respect to the little ones)

Put the dried mushroom in a container and cover them with warm water. Wait around 20 minutes and drain them, being careful to keep the water from the mushroom. 

Put some Olive oil in a pan with the chopped onion. Cook it until goldish and then add the pumpkin cut in little pieces. Let it cook a bit in the oil and then add the sage, the rosemary, some salt, pepper and the white wine. The pumpkin will take a bit to cook and get soft (at least 20 minutes) and you will need to add the water from the mushroom every now and then to let it cook.

In another pan you will prepare the mushrooms: put some olive oil with the garlic cloves and let it cook until goldish. Then take the garlic off and add the fresh mushrooms in slices with some chopped parsley. Let it cook in the garlic oil until ready.

Prepare the saucepan for the pasta with some a good quantity of water and salt and add the pasta when boiling.

At this point add the Porcini and the fresh mushrooms to the pan with the pumpkin and finish to add the mushroom water or some stock water if this is already finished. Let it cook until is all mixed and the pumpkin is soft and then taste it, to see if you need some more salt, pepper or chili. You can even add some Parmesan now, if you like it.

Drain the Pennoni and toss them with the sauce. Let them absorb the flavors and serve it with a last touch of parmesan on the top. 

What do you think? was it enough of a treat to avoid the Halloween tricks?

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