Pumpkin Alfredo Cannelloni

I saw this recipe recently in my new Pillsbury Halloween cooking magazine.  I knew I had to try it.  It was easy to do and super yummy.  I'm always looking for a new way to eat pumpkin  and this was perfect on a cool fall evening.  

Click here for printable recipe.

Post by: Jen

Ingredients:

1 box cannelloni pasta tubes (or jumbo shells or manicotti shells)
1 1/2 c Parmesan cheese, divided
1 c pureed pumpkin ( not the pie mix)
1 c ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
2 c milk                                               OR a jar of already made Alfredo sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat oven to 375.  Spray 9x13 baking pan.

If you need to cook your shells, then cook according the the package just until they are a little soft and almost al dente.  OR if you're lucky enough to find" no pre-bake" pasta, then use that because it's much easier to fill.

In a bowl mix the pumpkin, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, the egg, the sage and onion, and salt and pepper.

Mix together until well blended.

Meanwhile, prepare your Alfredo white sauce (unless you have the already made sauce then skip this part).

For a more detailed description of making a white sauce, then check out the white sauce/cheese sauce tutorial here.

Melt the butter in a nonstick pan.  Sprinkle on the flour.

Stir the flour and butter together so that no lumps are there.

Add the milk and keep whisking until there are no lumps.   This is actually easier if your milk is hot.  Add the remaining Parmesan cheese and the garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Stir and heat through.  Feel free to add more Parmesan or garlic to taste.   When done, take about 3/4 c of sauce and spread it on the bottom of your baking pan.

Scoop the pumpkin mixture into a baggie (NOT a sandwich baggie but something stronger)

Snip a 1/2 inch hole in one of the corners of the bag.  Take your pasta tube or shell and fill it up with the pumpkin mixture by piping the pumpkin through the hole of the bag into the pasta.

Lay your filled pasta over the sauce in the pan.

Pour the remaining sauce over the pasta.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for 10 minutes more.

Serve immediately while hot.

Recipe (mostly) from : Pillsbury Halloween magazine 

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Crab Dip or Crab Alfredo sauce

For the last week I've been wishing that there was something I could do for Lara and her family. If I were still in her town then I would be bringing her family dinner, but then I realized that I can bring her virtual dinner! Lara asked me to be a part of this blog last year to help her out. Sorry I've been a slacker, but I promise that I will do a better job to help keep this blog going and not give Lara more things to worry about. So without further ado...

Whenever I have a social gathering at my house I love to make various dips. One of my favorites is a warm crab dip. This recipe is rather special to me because it is the recipe that my mom has been using for years and every year during the holidays we would make this. So now it has become one of my traditions as well, but not just for the holidays. It's always popular with my guests and people are constantly asking me for the recipe. The great thing about this dip, is that if you make it a little thinner by adding more cream or milk then voila...you have a crab alfredo sauce for your pasta!

Click here for printable recipe.

Posted by Jen.

The Ingredients:
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
2-3 c milk
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
dash pepper and nutmeg
dash Tobasco sauce (oops forgot to put it in the picture)
14 oz pkg of imitation crab meat, finely chopped

The Directions:
First make a white sauce. (check out the tutorial for making a white sauce here). Melt the butter in a large pan, then sprinkle in the flour. Stir together until the flour is cooked into the butter.Turn temperature up to med high and add a cup of milk at a time, stirring constantly so that it doesn't lump up. As it gets thicker, add more milk until the desired consistancy.Mix in the Parmesan cheese, and spices. At this point you have a basic Alfredo sauce that would be great over pasta. (just add a little more Parmesan cheese and garlic to taste if that's your thing). But we are not stopping here, so add the chopped crab.
Mix well. Add more spices to taste. This is actually better served the next day. So let it cool and then put in a microwave or oven safe bowl and place in the fridge overnight. The following day just add a little more milk or cream (it will be quite thick!) and heat all the way through. You can heat it in the microwave or my mom actually sprinkles more Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs on top and heats in in the oven. Serve with solid crackers as this is rather thick. Triscuits are great, Ritz are not. Or serve with toasted baguette/french bread. If you happen to have left overs, or just want to make this a pasta dish, simply add more milk and make the sauce thinner. Pour and mix into cooked pasta.

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