Halloween is almost here and Max is super, duper excited about his Halloween costume. NOT! He is irked and annoyed by it while I find it super duper hilarious. He looks adorable! So be sure to come back on Friday to see Max’s misery, I mean .. well, misery. 🙂
There are pumpkins everywhere I look these days, so it feels like a sign from the Great Pumpkin that I need to feature a pumpkin recipe. There are a gazillion recipes for pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin lattes and more on Pinterest. The pumpkin coffee drinks intrigue me, but I cannot make a decent cup of coffee, which is kind of embarrassing.
Pumpkin pie is a classic, beloved dish, but I’m not a huge fan. And pumpkin bread didn’t appeal to me either.
Did you just fall over and faint?
Yeah, me too.
I kept looking and looking until I stumbled across a couple of possibilities. One had potential, and with more time, it could be quite great, so I plan to continue working on the recipe until it’s muy delicioso. Of course, that put a lot pressure on the second recipe to deliver, which was risky, given the recent amount of epic fails I’ve had in the kitchen lately. Those days I wish for a dog to eat up the evidence, but MaxE quickly disabuses me of any notion of becoming a dog parent. 😉
While I may not have been in the mood for bread (still feeling shocked? me too!), but I heard the siren call of pasta. This pumpkin alfredo sauce is perfect. I added a little heat with cayenne, but just a dash or two. You don’t want to overpower the pumpkin flavor. The fried sage makes a beautiful and tasty decoration, but if you don’t have the time or inclination, feel free to skip it.
I used cheese tortellini, which is optional too. You could serve this over penne or your favorite pasta too. FYI, cheese tortellini cost $4.79 per container at my local grocery store. It was $3.99 at Target. It was $1.99 at Trader Joes. Trader Joes was, of course, their store brand, but it was still delicious and much, much cheaper.
This Fall dish comes together quite fast, which makes it the perfect meal for the upcoming busy holiday season. It makes a great weeknight dinner, but also a gorgeous meal to serve to company too. It doesn’t use a full can of pumpkin, but you can freeze the leftovers to use another time. I would advise against making extra sauce to freeze, however. Cream-based sauces don’t always freeze well, and it makes me crabby when good food goes to waste. 🙂 Freeze the pumpkin and make the sauce again on a night you need a quick meal.
Ingredients
- 2 (9 oz) packages cheese tortellini
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
- 6-8 whole, fresh sage leaves
Instructions
- In a small pan, melt butter over medium heat. When butter is sizzling, add whole sage leaves and brown. Remove and drain on a paper-toweled plate.
- In a medium pan, add butter that you fried the sage in. Stir in pumpkin puree and heavy cream until thoroughly combined.
- Add cream cheese (cube first) and parmesan cheese. Stir until melted and fully combined.
- Add spices. Start with a dash or two of cayenne pepper and taste. You want a little heat, but not too much, so it doesn’t overpower the pumpkin flavor. Simmer for five minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook cheese tortellini according to package directions. When cooked, drain tortellini, setting aside 1/2 cup of pasta water.
- Add tortellini to pumpkin sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add pasta water to thin to your desired consistency.
- Top with fried sage leaves and serve immediately.
Notes
You can crumble the dried sage and mix in with the cheese tortellini. Tastes great!
Enjoy!
Tanya
Look so good but not sure that’s going to be in the menu for the health and wealth challenge. lol!! Maybe if I do a good job and complete is successfully!
HeHeHe, no, it’s not! And I won’t lie – I’m making lots of food this week for upcoming holiday blog posts that I should be avoiding (or at least eating with moderation) during the challenge! Hmmm… you bring a good idea. I should think about how I will reward myself for successfully completing the challenge. I’ll need to ponder that for a bit!
This looks so good! Anything with pumpkin is A-Okay in my book! 😉
It was really good and I have to admit that I’m not a HUGE pumpkin fan. It’s okay but I’m not crazy about it. This I did like and it was SO EASY, which probably further enhanced the flavor!