Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

If you've ever wanted to make pasta without really making pasta, this recipe is a must. It looks impressive - and tastes great - but isn't that difficult or expensive. Not to mention, you will be left with lots of leftover wanton wrappers which opens doors to homemade pot stickers, fried banana nutella wontons, dumpling soup...

I found this recipe on Cooking Lights website, so I'm pretty sure that means it's healthy. The only time consuming part is stuffing and sealing the wontons, and this recipe yields about 30 to 35 ravioli. And the gorgonzola cream sauce? I was scraping my plate clean (after both servings). 

Therefore, I'm going to make a strong suggestion that you just make it. To make it lighter just replace the sauce with Parmesan and olive oil like i did with these leftovers, it’s still fabulous.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh sage (I used dried)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
30ish round (I used square) wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts (optional)

Add pumpkin, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, salt, sage, pepper and nutmeg to a bowl and mix. One by one, spoon 2 teaspoons pumpkin mixture into the center of the wrapper. Brush the edges of the wrapper with a damp paper towel and fold in half, pressing edges firmly to create a triangle or half moon. Place on a large baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch. Repeat with remaining wrappers. 

In a large pot of lightly boiling water, add ravioli in batches and cook for about 4 minutes or until done. Remove with slotted spoon and keep warm in serving bowls while the others cook. 

Meanwhile, make a roux by melting butter in a skillet and adding flour. Whisk flour and butter together for about a minute to cook out raw flour taste, then slowly add the milk while constantly whisking. Continue whisking for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until sauce starts to thicken (be patient!). Add the Gorgonzola and stir until melted. 

Fall Feast with Apple Tarts

What was supposed to be our book club meeting turned into a fall feast for two. I had planned to bring easy apple tarts and Molly had stocked up at Trader Joe's with crackers, cheeses, butternut squash soup, and wine. Tonight was much more my speed, especially since I had only scanned the SparkNotes once again... In my defense, I've read 1984 before, so I was hoping to pull from previous knowledge from 9th grade English.

I threw together the apple puff pastry desserts at Molly's and sat down to our spread.  

Friends are the cheapest therapy :)

Easy Apple Tarts

1 package puff pastry
2-3 granny smith apples, sliced thin
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
lemon or orange zest
apricot jam, warmed

Roll out the puff pastry and cut into 2" squares - or use a fluted cutter - and place on lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. While still warm, brush with warmed jam and let cool.

District Commons

I promise I'm not holding out on you, I just haven't been in the mood to cook the past few weeks (so unlike me). I realized that cooking all the time can make you very antisocial. So I decided to shake things up and make more of an effort to see friends during the week and make Monday through Thursday a little more exciting. This definitely hurts the wallet, but who knows how long I'll keep this up once it starts snowing outside.

(Image from website) Anywho, last night Evan and I met up with our friend Molly for dinner at District Commons - a new restaurant in Foggy Bottom. It has a very big city feel, an awesome bar (that actually has 99 bottles of beer on the wall!) and creative food. Not to mention, one of Evan and my favorite beers on draft: Speakeasy's Big Daddy IPA. We discovered it on our trip to San Fran and have searched for it since.

We ordered the Pig Board to share. Velvety prosciutto, marinated cherries, fresh butter and biscuits.

For dinner, I got the smoked salmon flatbread. A base of cool dill marscapone cheese, crumbled hard boiled egg, capers, red onion and chives. I ate it all.

In retrospect that may not have been the best idea, as I didn't feel too good afterwards. But it was a good night!

Upper Crust

I have been a little under the weather this week, so I've had no appetite - hence no posts. Last night, I was ready to eat again but without the fuss of cooking. This is when Groupon saves the day. Evan had one to Upper Crust, a pizza place near the white house, that i'd never been to. We ordered the large (huge!) Washington pizza, which was topped with fresh tomato sauce, mozz, chicken sausage and spinach. The crust was as thin as a potato chip. Love, love the crust. Evan thought it was too "limp" but still tasty. I think I made up for my fasting by polishing off 4 pieces of zza. 4. Woof.

We picked a table in the park across from the big man's house. We also saw him heading out to conduct important business (or grab dinner) with his motorcade, right afterwards.