Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce

The leaves are turning gold and red. The summer fruit and vegetables have all been harvested. Halloween officially ushers in the fall season and bright orange pumpkins are everywhere.

It’s time for my granddaughters, Isabelle 8 and Sophia 6, to make our traditional Pumpkin Ravioli. It’s a high point in my autumn calendar and the thought of tender, pumpkin stuffed home made ravioli, dressed in a sage butter sauce has me salivating.

Pumpkin Ravioli

1 1/2 pound pumpkin
2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

To make the filling; quarter the pumpkin, removing the strings and seeds and place, flesh side down, on an oiled baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes, or until tender. Peel and puree flesh. Add egg yolk, cheese, sage, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

On a floured surface, roll out the pasta as thin as possible. My stand mixer has a pasta roller attachment, which makes this process much easier. Cut into 2 sheets and brush 1 of them with egg wash. Using a teaspoon, place equal mounds of the pumpkin puree on the egg-washed dough, about 2 inches apart. Cover the mounded dough with the second sheet of pasta and press around the mounds of pumpkin to seal the dough.

Using a ravioli cutter or a sharp knife cut the ravioli. Dust a tray with semolina and place the ravioli on it.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a sprinkling of salt.

Place the ravioli to the rapidly boiling water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully remove with a slotted spoon and drain.

Place in heated serving bowl and lightly toss with sage butter sauce. Correct seasonings, dust with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Sage Butter Sauce

4 tablespoons butter
8 sage leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

In a skillet over high heat add the butter when pan is very hot. Let butter sit undisturbed until almost all melted and outside edges have begun to caramelize. Quickly swirl the skillet and add minced sage. Let cook for 30 seconds longer, season with salt and pepper to taste.

It’s high summer here in Tiburon and certainly not the time of year to think about hot soup but Michael Chiarello’s Guinness and Irish cheddar cheese onion soup sounds delicious. Having just returned from Ireland I’m still in my Irish mode.

Guinness and Onion Soup with Irish Cheddar Crouton

Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello
Show: Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello
www.foodnetwork.com
Episode: Pub Crawl

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 cloves minced garlic
8 cups thinly sliced onions
Gray salt
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 1/2 cups dark beer (recommended: Guinness)
6 cups beef stock
6 slices country bread cut 1/2-inch thick, toasted
1/2 pound Irish Cheddar, sliced thin

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and cook briefly to release aroma. Add onions, season with salt and cook for about 5 minutes stirring often. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are golden brown.

Add the thyme, vinegar, and beer. Reduce beer by half and add the beef stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 more minutes.

Preheat the broiler. Transfer soup to an ovenproof serving dish or individual ovenproof soup bowls. Top with toasted bread slices and sliced Cheddar. Broil until cheese melts and starts to brown slightly. Serve piping hot.

I bought some beautiful looking beets at the Marin Farmer’s Market the other day to try out a delicious sounding recipe from Gourmet Magazine. It was incredible! The color of the beets and the sauce was amazing.

I made a change in the recipe. Instead of wrappingthe beets in foil, baking and then peeling before putting them into the sauce, I cut mine up in chunks, drizzled olive oil on them and roasted them until they were fork tender. About 40 minutes at 400 degrees.

I didn’t peel the beets because I always feel there are extra nutrients in the skins of veggies.

Maple Horseradish Glazed Beets

1 3/4 lb beets, stems cut to about 1 inch.
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 tablespoons bottled horseradish (not drained)
2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
21/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400degrees.

Wrap beets in foil and roast until tender, about 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, peel beets and cut into eighths then transfer to a bowl.

Melt butter with horseradish, syrup, vinegar, sale and pepper in a 12inch heavy skillet over moderate heat. Stir in beets and boil, stirring occasionally, until liquid in skillet is reduced to about 1/4cup and beets are coated, 4 to 5 minutes.

I’m telling you, the color of the sauce is incredibly beautiful and the the beets taste divine!

When I was a child we had an enormous fig tree in the back yard. Every year the tree would produce an abundance of fruit, much to the delight of my mother and grandmother. Personally I didn’t like them at all, although I loved Fig Newton’s. It wasn’t until I was all grown up and went to Italy that I found figs to be delicious, especially when served with a cool Vin Santo along with cheese and nuts.

I came across this recipe in the San Francisco Chronicle one day and decided to try it out. Oh my! It was delicious.

Foil Wrapped Pork Chops with Whole Garlic & Figs

2 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
16 figs, stems trimmed
Four 1-inch thick center-cut pork rib chops with bones (about 2 lbs. total)
20 cloves fresh, firm garlic (peeled)
4 sprigs sage

Preheat oven to 350

In a bowl combine salt, pepper, sage and thyme then mix well. Lay out 4 sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil about 12 inches by 16 inches. Put the olive oil in a bowl then add the figs and turn well to coat. Lay a chop in the center of each piece of foil and season them equally with half the herb mix. Put 4 figs on top of each chop and season them with the remaining half of the herb mix. Tuck five cloves of garlic beneath or around the figs to make a snug bundle, garnish with a sage sprig, then fold the foil corner to corner to make a tight seal. Place the packets on a baking sheet and bake until the port is opaque the just faintly pink in the center, about 55 minutes to 1 hours. Serve the packets on dinner plates letting each diner open their packet.

Serves 4
400 Calories per serving

Around this time of year I really miss my mother. She died back in 1987 but the memory of her pumpkin pies live on in my heart. Oh my how she could bake. Her pies were so light they seemed to float off the plate. The crusts so tender and flaky they would melt in your mouth.

I decided to share mother’s treasured pumpkin pie recipe with you. If you decide to try it, please give a little prayer of thanksgiving to my mother Pearl.

Pearl’s Pumpkin Pie

2 cups pumpkin
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Dash of nutmeg

Mix pumpkin, milk, sugar, beaten eggs, salt, spices.
Beat 2 minutes.
Pour into pastry* lined pan.
Bake for 15 minutes at 475°, then 45 minutes at 400° until done.

Pie Crust

Mother always used the pie crust recipe on the back of the Crisco can. I know some of you might not like that idea, so just use whatever recipe you like best. However, the Crisco recipe is delicious!

This is enough for either two one crust pies or one two crust (top and bottom) pies.
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Crisco Shortening
5 tablespoons cold water

Mix flour and salt in bowl.
Cut in Crisco using a pastry blender or two knives. Mix until mixture forms small pea-sized chunks.
Slowly sprinkle cold water over mixture. Toss with a fork. Add water as needed until dough forms a ball. (This could be done in a food processor if you want.)
Divide into two balls.
Lay a sheet of wax or parchment paper on rolling surface.
Dust with flour
Place one ball on paper, add another sheet of paper on top.
Gently roll dough out to size needed.
Remove top sheet and flip pastry into pie plate. Gently remove the bottom sheet of paper. Fill with pie mixture and bake.
Serve with a blob of whipped cream and enjoy.

I fell in love with Marseille on my very first visit. The sea and the hills Marcel Pagnol wrote about sang to me too. And the food, oh yes, the food! My mouth waters remembering incredibly delicious dishes filled with succulent fish, perfumed with herbs and spices.

Here is one of my favorite Marseille recipes. You can substitute other types of white fish. I sometimes just cook the whole trout, head, bones and all.

TRUITE Å LA TOMATE
Fillet of trout with tomato

4 trout fillets, about 6 oz each
Salt
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons green olives, pitted
8 to 10 pearl onions, chopped
1 pound ripe plum tomatoes, chapped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
2) Place the trout fillets on an oiled baking dish, season with salt.
3) Combine the capers, green olives, pearl onions, tomatoes, chopped parsley and chopped garlic and spoon the mixture over the trout fillets
4) Pour the white wine over the fillets and vegetables, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and bake until the fillets are just cooked through, about 20 minutes.

I’m baking cookies today. The whole place smells heavenly – sugar and butter – oh my! At the top of my cookie list are Snowballs. They have always been my children’s favorites. I remember one year, long ago, when my son Tim and his friend Ted ate so many they had to lay down for a little while.

SNOWBALLS

1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2/1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup finely chopped nuts (I use lightly toasted walnuts)

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Stir flour and salt together; blend in. Mix in nuts. Chill dough.

Heat oven to 400° (mod. Hot). Roll dough in 1″ balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet. (Cookies do not spread) Bake 10 to 12 min., or until set and lightly browned. While still warm, roll in confectioners’ sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again. Makes about 4 dozen 1″ cookies.

It’s been a bit rainy and cold around here lately and the perfect weather for a nice hot bowl of soup. The following recipe was sent to me from one of my Italian cousins. She was kinda vague about the measurements so you’ll have to improvise a little bit. Taste as you go along. I made it last night and was delighted with the results. It isn’t a heavy, dense soup but the Tortellini gives it a satisfying finish.

Spinach Tortellini Soup

You need:
A bunch of fresh spinach, wash and de-stemmed
Olive oil, a couple of tablespoons
Garlic, about two cloves, chopped
Onion, chopped
Mushrooms, chopped up
Stewed tomatoes, diced a couple of cans.
Cheese Tortellini, one package (I like the multi-colored ones)
Shredded/grated Parmesan cheese (for on top at the end)
Broth* (I use veggie, but chicken is okay) - amount depends on how many you want to serve (you need a little extra added for left-overs (the tortillinis tend to soak up all the water/broth)
Salt, pepper, you can throw in basil/oregano if you feel like it

1. heat olive oil in soup pot, heat up onion and garlic
2. add spinach, cook it down
3. add mushrooms, cook ‘em up
4. add stewed tomatoes with the juice, heat
5. add broth, get it nice and hot
6. season to taste
7. boil soup and when you are ready to eat, add the Tortellini (you only need to cook them for 10 or 12 minutes, look at the package directions), don’t let them cook too long before serving, they tend to bloat and fall apart.
8. serve hot with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top

*Jacqueline: I use my own chicken stock that I keep in my freezer.

I’ve had a very hectic couple of months. I sold my condo, found a rental apartment in Tiburon (Marin County) CA, have suffered with horrible asthma, heart problems and now am up to my neck in packing boxes. Official moving date is April 10th.

I’m sad about leaving my condo at Ocean Beach, but excited to move to a warmer and sunny location and I’ll be nearer my granddaughters.

So, wish me luck in my new incarnation.

Stay tuned for further developments.

The other night I was dining with the Wild Writing Women at Puccini and Pinetti. We always go there after our first Wednesday of every month Literary Salon at the Monticello Inn. The restaurant is right next door to the hotel.

Puccini and Pinetti
www.pucciniandpinetti.com
129 Ellis St
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 392-5500

The restaurant has a new executive chef, Keira Moritz, and is in the process of a complete menu makeover. I dined on the Veal Picatta and I have to tell you, it was delicious!

For desert Keira recommended the cheesecake with a balsamic vinegar reduction. The sauce was out of this world! I convinced her to give me the recipe so I could share it with all of you.

Balsamic Vinegar with Berries Reduction

3 cups Balsamic Vinegar (older the better)
1 cup berries of your choice (think blackberries)
1/2 cup brown sugar

Combine all in saucepan bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Cook until the sauce is reduced to a thick consistency.

Spoon over cheesecake, ice cream, yogurt or whatever you think sounds good.

Trust me on this one. It is totally divine!