Pumpkin Cream Sauce with Sage

I love pumpkin in all of its forms- I love it in sweet desserts, I love it savory dishes, I love it in hearty breakfasts. I haven't exactly kept this love of pumpkin I have a secret. And likewise, I can't keep this sauce a secret. I was totally surprised by this one; I threw it together as a one of those "I have these ingredients on hand- it sounds like they could go together- I hope dinner ends up edible" dishes. Oh man, was it edible. I may or may not have eaten the extra sauce up with a spoon.

I've had sauces like this in restaurants, and hoped I could recreate something similar. It has a rich, slightly sweet flavor, and was so good over a mushroom ravioli. We also had it over gnocchi, sausage ravioli, mushroom fettuccine (yes, we had it that many times- it's a great way to use up leftover pumpkin), but the winner was the mushroom ravioli. I'm sure we'll be trying it many other ways as well!

Pumpkin Cream Sauce with Sage

3 heaping Tablespoons of pumpkin puree
1/4 cup of heavy cream (or half and half if you want to keep it lighter)
1 Tablespoon of chopped sage leaves
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
dash of black pepper

1/4 cup of fresh shaved Parmesan cheese

Directions: Heat pumpkin, cream, sage, salt, and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine, and bring to a slight simmer. Allow to cook for a couple minutes, and stir in the Parmesan cheese. Continue to stir, as the cheese melts and sauce thickens. Serve over pasta or ravioli, and garnish with a bit of shaved Parmesan. Enjoy!

A Little Domestic Bliss original ;)

Tomato, Sausage, and Basil Marinara Sauce

Our CSA had plum tomatoes for sale this past week, in addition to the tomatoes we got in the regular basket. Since I had been itching to try my hand at homemade tomato sauce lately, we decided to buy some. And by some, I mean 25 pounds. Go big or go home, right?

Well, it turns out that 25 pounds is a heck of a lot of tomatoes. I didn't even use half in my first big stock pot full of sauce. But the plan was to make a ton and freeze most of it for the winter, so I'm sure it'll be fine. The first batch I made was a Tomato, Sausage, and Basil Marinara. Of course, we had to try a bit for dinner before freezing it. It was really good, and definitely a nice twist on the standard red sauce. I'm glad we'll be enjoying this all winter!

Tomato, Sausage, and Basil Marinara Sauce

(makes roughly 15 cups)

30 plum tomatoes

1 (28 oz.) can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes

2 (28 oz.) cans of tomato sauce

1/4 cup of red wine (I used merlot)

3 Tablespoons of dried basil

3 Tablespoons of dried oregano

1 Tablespoon of ground fennel seed

6 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

5 bay leaves

6 links of Italian pork sausage (I used mild, as a preference, but hot would work too)

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup of chopped fresh oregano

Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. 

Fill a large bowl half way with iced cubes and cold water, and set aside. Lightly slice an "x" in the skin of each plum tomato. When water is boiling, place the tomatoes in (I did about 6-8 at a time). Let them boil for a couple minutes, until skin starts to peel back from the sliced areas. Using a slotted spoon, place in the iced water to cool for a couple minutes and halt the cooking. When they have cooled somewhat, the skin should peel right off. Peel and dice them, and place them in a large bowl. Repeat until all the tomatoes are done. 

Place fresh diced tomatoes, canned sauce, canned diced tomatoes, red wine, dried basil, dried oregano, ground fennel seed, garlic, salt, pepper, and bay leaves in a large stock pot. (I couldn't find ground fennel seed, so I used whole fennel seeds that I ran through an empty pepper-mill.) Bring to a light simmer, cover, and allow to simmer for 1.5 hours. 

After 1.5 hours, heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high. Squeeze sausages out of the casings into the saucepan. Brown the sausage, breaking up the pieces with a fork. When the sausage is browned, add it to the sauce, give it a good stir, re-cover, and allow to simmer for another 2-3 hours. Sauce should be reduced down a good amount from where it started.

Remove from heat, and stir in the fresh basil and oregano. Allow to cool before freezing. Enjoy!

Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen, original recipe here.

Chimichurri Sauce

We had a beautiful bunch of parsley in our CSA basket this week and some cilantro leftover from the BBQ chicken burgers, so I decided to make a chimichurri sauce (fairly non-authentically, as it turns out). But nevertheless, it was very tasty and easy!

I served it over NY strip steaks, but I bet it would be good on pretty much any cut, or even on chicken or pasta, since it is extremely similar in texture to pesto. It'd be a simple way to add great flavor to a lot of different foods.

Chimichurri Sauce

1 cup of parsley
1/2 cup of cilantro
1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
dash of red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and pepper to season

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until chopped and well combined. You may want to drizzle an extra bit of olive oil, to get it to a bit more liquid consistency. Enjoy!

Adapted from epicurious.com, original recipe here.

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

As far as I'm concerned, ranch dressing is one of the wonders of the world. It is a wonderful, magical substance that comes out of a bottle and that taste cannot be replicated outside of the processed food world. However, it turns out may not be the case...

I had some buttermilk I needed to use up, and figured I would bake something (scones, most likely), when I stumbled upon this recipe for buttermilk ranch dressing. Hm... could it be? I knew I had to give it a chance.

 Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise (light is OK)
1/2 cup sour cream (non-fat is OK)
1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 small bunch chives, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped (I used minced jar garlic)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dill (optional)

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor starting and blend for 10 seconds. Check the consistency and taste and blend in additional buttermilk as desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Adapted from Annie's Eats, original recipe here.

It was so fresh and absolutely delicious!! I ended up adding about a teaspoon of dill. While I don't think the dill is a traditional "ranch" flavor, it definitely worked and added a bit of complexity. And I am definitely going to make this again with some fresh, finely diced bacon bits, or finely diced cucumber as well.