Pumpkin Sausage Sauce

Winter, why won't you end? We had a brief reprieve with a sunny, 50 degree day this past Saturday, but now we're back to gusty winds, frosty air, and the promise of more snow. Oh well - spring veggies and grilling time will come soon enough. In the meantime, I have more hearty, cold-weather recipes to share.

A few months ago, I was browsing Instagram. Laura of Mangia Paleo had posted a picture of homemade pumpkin bolognese over spaghetti squash, and I started drooling. However, I looked up the recipe, and one of the ingredients was a jar of marinara sauce. Brilliant idea, adding tomatoes and seasoning all at once, but with a tomato-allergic husband, this recipe was a no-go. But, I just couldn't get the idea of a meaty pumpkin sauce out of my head.

I set out to find another pumpkin bolognese recipe that didn't rely on added tomatoes, and failed. Tomatoes have a unique characteristic that blends together so well with other ingredients, so I didn't want to just leave them out of a recipe without a substitute in place. Suddenly, it came to me - instead of ground beef, why not use sausage meat instead? Letting sausage simmer with other ingredients is a really easy way to infuse great flavor into a sauce.

Turns out I was onto something! There are many recipes for pumpkin sausage sauce out there. But most of them called for the addition of heavy cream at the end to add richness. I liked the idea of a creamy sauce, but since we try to limit our dairy intake, I discovered that full-fat coconut milk could play that part quite easily. The mild coconut flavor melded harmoniously with the subtle pumpkin sweetness.

The flavor profile of the finished sauce will heavily depend on the sausage you choose to use. I typically use sweet Italian sausage, but hot Italian sausage, chorizo, or even a good breakfast sausage would be a delicious change. If you can find bulk (uncased) sausage meat, that will make your life easier - otherwise, you'll have to pull the casings off the sausage. Be sure to use the best quality sausage you find! The recipe wouldn't work quite as well with pre-cooked sausage since you finish cooking the sausage (and infusing the seasoning) in the sauce.

Like many of my recent recipes, this sauce is easily adapted to many different ways of eating. Paleo? It's fabulous served over spaghetti squash (which adds its own sweetness and a welcome crunch). Gluten-free? Either spaghetti squash or gluten-free pasta (which, quite frankly, is more photogenic, so that's how I made it for the pictures). Vegetarian/vegan? Well... I hear that Soyrizo is pretty tasty (I've never tried it), so you could try that in place of the sausage. If you do, let me know how it comes out!

Pumpkin Sausage Sauce
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 15oz can pumpkin puree (no spices, just pumpkin!)
• 1 cup chicken broth OR vegetable broth
• 1 tsp dried sage
• a sprinkle of nutmeg
• a splash of olive oil
• 1 clove minced garlic (the pre-minced stuff is fine)
• 1 lb bulk sausage OR 1 lb sausage links, casings removed (any type - breakfast, Italian, chorizo, etc.)
• a couple of handfuls quick-wilting greens (baby spinach, baby arugula, baby kale, etc.)
• ½ cup full-fat unsweetened coconut milk OR ½ cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• a 2-3 lb spaghetti squash OR 12oz dry pasta

Directions
Before starting to make the sauce:
If you're making spaghetti squash, get it prepped and start cooking it using your favorite method. If you're making pasta, start boiling water for the pasta.

Combine pumpkin puree, chicken broth, sage, nutmeg, a pinch of kosher salt, and a grind of black pepper in a decent-sized saucepan (it will eventually hold all of the ingredients). Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to combine as it heats up.

While the pumpkin mixture is heating, in a nonstick skillet, heat a splash of olive oil and add some minced garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, till garlic is fragrant but not too brown. Add sausage meat to skillet and break up with spatula, and cook just until no pink remains (but not really brown and crispy).

Using a slotted spoon, add the sausage and garlic to the saucepan with the pumpkin mixture. Bring back to a simmer and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering:
If you're making spaghetti squash, scrape out your spaghetti squash strands and set aside. If you're making pasta, cook your pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.

Add the greens to the sauce, a handful at a time, stirring each handful in until it wilts. Let it simmer for another minute or 2.

Add coconut milk and stir to combine. Taste sauce and add any additional salt and pepper if needed.

Toss with spaghetti squash or pasta. Top with grated parmesan or romano cheese, if desired.

Print this recipe!

Slacker Gourmet Formula: Pasta/Grain Salad

Well, more than a year has passed since my last Slacker Gourmet post. Oops. I could make all sorts of excuses about buying a house, and job changes, and blah blah blah, but instead, I'll just refer you to the "Slacker" portion of the blog title, and just go from there.

As a UI Developer by trade, creating web page templates is a big part of my day-to-day life - a basic structure for a page, filled in with different content, depending on a particular database call. For a large site with hundreds of thousands of pages, templating is completely necessary, otherwise we'd be reinventing the wheel over and over again.

But what does that have to do with cooking? Well, as I postulated in my Fondue Theory post, the creation of a basic formula (or template) for a type of dish makes it easy (and nearly foolproof) to implement nearly infinite variations, limited only by your own imagination. Some basic knowledge of complementary flavors is certainly helpful, but I'll happily make some suggestions to get you started.

My Pasta/Grain Salad formula has been a couple of years in development. Its roots are in Lemony Couscous with Chickpeas, which I've made a shockingly large number of times. However, as a Slacker Gourmet, I crave variety - no matter how easy and tasty something is, I will get sick of it after eating it enough times.

Enter the formula. As long as everything stays in the same basic proportions, there is no reason that nearly every component can't be swapped out for something else in the same basic family (black beans instead of chickpeas - yes; M&Ms instead of olives - not so much). This is where that general idea of complementary flavors will come in handy.

And now... the magic formula!

Pasta/Grain Salad
Serves 4-6 as a main dish, 8-10 as a side dish
Adapted from Lemony Couscous with Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked pasta/grain
• Enough water to cook the pasta/grain
• 1/4 cup citrus juice or other acidic liquid (vinegar is untested; will probably need less)
• 1 tablespoon citrus zest, if using citrus juice
• 3 tablespoons high-quality oil (extra-virgin olive oil is probably best in most cases)
• 1 14oz can of beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 to 1 cup of something briny, like olives, capers, artichoke hearts, rinsed (the stronger the flavor, the less you need)
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup of something crunchy, like nuts, seeds, wasabi peas, freeze-dried edamame (though the latter two will soften up the longer the salad sits)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped herbs and/or scallions
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cook pasta/grain according to package directions; let cool. Chop or slice the briny component if it needs it. Whisk together the oil, acidic liquid, and zest (if using). If using nuts, toast in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, moving them constantly with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned and fragrant (as soon as you smell them, get them off the heat). Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary.

---

What's so amazing about this salad? Well, it's freakin' delicious. You can make a huge batch and eat it for a week (it keeps wonderfully in the fridge). Depending on the starch component you choose, you don't even need to heat up the kitchen to cook it (see this post for Slacker Gourmet-approved easy starch cooking).

And since it's that time of year, I'd be remiss if I didn't say how great it is for summer potlucks: there's no mayo or dairy to spoil in the heat, and it can easily accommodate special diets and allergies without sacrificing flavor. Gluten allergy? Use gluten-free pasta, rice or quinoa. Vegetarian/vegan? You're already all set as-is! Nut allergy? Leave 'em out - they're not a deal-breaker.

Variations
"Okay, okay, I'm sold!" you say. "But, I need some inspiration for the flavor combos... help me out here!"

Flavor combo	Pasta/grain	Acidic liquid	Oil	Beans	Briny	Crunch	Herbs
Mediterranean *	Quinoa**	Lemons	EVOO	Chickpeas	Kalamata olives	Slivered almonds	Parsley
Italian	Orzo or farro	Lemons	EVOO	Cannellini beans	Black olives	Pine nuts	Basil
Mexican	Rice	Limes	EVOO or canola	Black beans	Black olives	Pumpkin seeds (pepitas)	Cilantro and scallions
Moroccan	Couscous	Oranges	EVOO	Chickpeas	Oil-cured black olives	Pistachios	Mint

* Pictured above.
** Yes, I know quinoa is technically a seed.

Want to mix it up more? Go ahead and throw some raisins in the Moroccan variation, some feta in the Mediterranean variation, or avocado in the Mexican variation (though it may not keep as long with avocado). Just keep those flavors complementary, and you can't go wrong!

Pasta e Ceci

Another day, and more snow in New England. Sure, this time it was only an inch or so, but after yesterday's below-zero lows, I'm not eager to go outside.

Of course, this leads to a catch-22. There isn't much food in the house, so I need to go grocery shopping. But... I can't face the outdoors without something warm and hearty in my belly. So what's a Slacker Gourmet to do? Turn to Google, pull out various cans, jars, boxes and frozen foods, and in less than 1/2 hour, sit down to a filling bowl of comfort food (with enough leftovers for the next couple of days for lunch - bonus!).

Pasta e ceci sounds chic, but it's simply a quick stew comprised of pasta and chickpeas in a tomato base. Everyone seems to have their own recipe - I favored one that I found that treated the liquid base as more of a pasta sauce than a soup. The sprinkling of cheese at the end is purely optional; the sauce is plenty thick without it.

Pasta e CeciServes 4
Based on Pasta e Ceci (Pasta With Chickpeas)

Ingredients

• Olive oil for sautéing
• 1 small onion, diced (I used frozen diced onion)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used minced garlic from a jar)
• 1 tsp dried crushed rosemary or 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced (I used dried)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes with the juice
• 1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and divided
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 pound small pasta (I used ditalini, elbow macaroni or smaller penne/rigatoni varieties would be good)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan or Romano for garnish (I used Romano)

Directions
Heat oil in a soup pot. When it shimmers, toss in onion and garlic and sauté until onion is soft. Add rosemary and stir around for another minute. Add tomatoes and their juice, red pepper flakes, and salt (I started with 1/2 tsp here), and simmer until tomatoes soften. Add 1 cup of the chickpeas, reserving the rest for later, and the cup of water, and simmer until heated through. Once the chickpeas are heated, purée the contents of the pot until smooth. Add remaining chickpeas, taste and correct seasoning (I added another sprinkle of salt and some pepper) and keep warm until pasta is cooked.

Meanwhile, boil salted water and cook pasta to al dente - it will suck up the liquid in the sauce and soften further. Drain and toss with the sauce and chickpeas. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan or Romano.

---

Puréeing the tomato-chickpea mixture transformed the humble ingredients into a thick, rich, creamy sauce - without any dairy whatsoever! Next time, I may add an additional can of chickpeas to the finished sauce, as I found myself wanting more of them. Also, I believe the pasta could be simmered directly in the sauce with the addition of extra water - another thing to try next time.