Back last October, I told you all that I often buy pumpkins in the fall of the year, particularly when they go on sale after Thanksgiving, and bake their flesh to use in soups and pastas during the winter. I freeze the baked pumpkin in meal-sized containers.
My posting noted that this is a good way to have on hand during the winter a healthy vegetable that is often overlooked and even discarded, once people have gotten the ornamental value they want out of pumpkins. Several of those I baked in the fall and froze came from relatives and friends who had bought them for decorative use in the Thanksgiving season and then didn't care to cook them afterwards. They know that in giving them to me, they're likely to get a good deal, since they'll receive a batch of cream of pumpkin soup in return, or some pumpkin-filled pasta, or something baked with pumpkin.
In my last posting about this, I talked about using the baked pumpkin as a sauce for pasta. Today, I'd like to tell you how I use it to fill pasta.
After you've baked a pumpkin--or after it has been baked and frozen--let the baked meat of the pumpkin (or as much of it as you wish to use as a pasta filling) sit in a fine sieve to drain off its liquid. I find that when I use about a quarter of a large pumpkin for this use, it takes a good two days to drain the liquid well. And I save the liquid to put into soup stocks. Naturally if the weather is sultry, you'll want to refrigerate the pumpkin as it drains, and cover it for protection.
When most of the liquid has drained, it doesn't hurt to take a rounded implement (I use the back of a soup ladle) and press as much remaining liquid as you can from the pumpkin flesh. Again, this is a savory addition to add to soups and other dishes, so it's good to save it.
Once you have drained the pumpkin flesh as well as possible, season it according to your taste. As I noted in my previous posting about baking pumpkin for winter use, I often bake a half pumpkin with butter or olive oil in the center (I bake the pumpkin in its shell, cut side up, seeds removed), and with a bunch of mixed herbs added. So by the time the pumpkin is baked, it is often well-seasoned and needs only salt and pepper.
When I use pumpkin as a filling for pasta, I frequently add a good bit of grated nutmeg, even when I've already baked it with herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage. Then I mix in a good bit of grated parmesan cheese. With a sprinkle of salt and pepper (assuming you haven't already added those), you now have the pasta filling.
I then make pasta, roll it out, and cut it into the shapes I want to fill. If I had a ravioli form, I'd definitely use it. When I can locate a tiny tart-baking pan in the pantry, I often use this as if it were a ravioli form.
Today, I simply rolled the pasta and used an old-fashioned biscuit or cookie cutter (I'm not sure which it is) with crimped edges. This makes nice-sized round pasta--about three inches across--that's fairly easy to seal after you've filled it.
After I roll the pasta dough out and cut it into circles, I take a heaping teaspoon or so of the filling and place it in the center of one round of dough. I dip another round into water and then carefully turn it around as I press the top piece of pasta onto the bottom, taking care not to squeeze the filling out.
That's it. The filled pasta goes into boiling, salted water and is boiled until done (let it rise to the top of the pot and then boil at a rolling boil for several minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the pasta). I serve it fresh and hot from the pasta pot dotted with bits of butter, more grated parmesan cheese, and some fresh-grated black pepper.
I think this dish has to be fairly tasty, because one of my nephews has just stopped by and eaten four of the large filled pasta circles, though his ostensible reason for visiting was to pick up some cheese enchiladas with pumpkin seed (pepita) sauce that I made for him and his brother before boiling the pumpkin-filled pasta. (He did eat an enchilada, too, and found it good--but thought the pumpkin was, well, he said spectacular, I blush to report.)
And it's not really that. It's just filling, simple food that makes a winter day pass more easily, and uses good, fresh (when the pumpkin was baked), local ingredients that don't stress the planet to produce, cook, and consume. I should also note that you can ring many changes on this basic recipe: you may choose to add other kinds of cheese, other seasonings, even some grated nuts. I often grind pecans fine and add to the mix, since we receive gifts of pecans from kind family members and friends at Christmas time, and they complement the pumpkin well. To make a meal of this pumpkin pasta, all you really need is a green salad with a tasty vinaigrette, and perhaps some good French or Italian bread with butter.
Enjoy. And please give thanks as you do so.
