Heavenly (seriously I heard angels singing) Cheesy Pumpkin Noodles

I cannot quit the squash family, this time of year.  It is a deep seeded love, 

and I am super excited to share this quick and super tasty recipe with you.

What you need:

1- 15oz. can of pumpkin puree (I prefer Trader Joe's brand)

1- 8oz tub of whipped cream cheese

2 cups whole milk

1 & 1/2 bags of 1 lb. spaghetti noodles

5 T. butter

1 large onion, sliced thin

1 & 1/2 cups finely grated parmesan cheese

1 T. pure maple syrup

8 sage leaves

hearty pinch of grated nutmeg

salt & pepper

 

Begin melting the butter in a saute pan.  Add the thinly 

sliced onions, salt & pepper.Cook over medium heat.

The butter will be bubbly and slowly start to brown.

 After the onions start to tenderize and the butter starts to brown, toss in 

the sage (I stack the sage and slice twice down the length of the leaves, then

chop across).  Cook an additional few minutes, while stirring the sage around.  

 Brown butter and onion perfection.  This will smell like heaven, 

infused with fresh sage!

 Toss the prepared spaghetti noodles in the onions and brown butter

 (the spaghetti is cooked to al dente in a big pot of boiling salted water),

coating each noodle with the infused butter.

Set the noodles aside on a platter, while you whip up the sauce in

the saute pan 

In the noodle free saute pan, add the milk, cream cheese, pumpkin,

maple syrup and fresh grated nutmeg.  Combine, then salt and pepper 

to taste. Like with any milk base sauce, I always think I end up 

needing more salt and pepper than I originally thought, so taste as you 

go and continue seasoning.  

After the milk, cream cheese and pumpkin are combined, stir

in the grated parmesan cheese. Taste it.  Is it seasoned appropriately?

The sauce will be thick and absolutely mouth watering!  If it is too 

thick for your liking, thin out with a tiny bit of milk.

 I simply garnished with some maple spiced pecans I had in the

kitchen. They are so good and were the perfect tiny crunch.

Do click above to see how absolutely simple they are to whip up.

I think some other wonderful additions to this heavenly pasta 

would be:

sauteed portobello mushrooms, chicken, bacon...mmmm!

Report back with the goodies you throw in. 

 Enjoy!!

Brown Butter Marshmallow Crispy Treats

I signed up to bring a 'treat' for Logi's preK Valentine's 

party tomorrow. I was thinking it would be fun to put a treat 

on a stick, and quickly decided I would make marshmallow 

crispy bars, and poke them with the barbershop pole paper 

straws I bought after Christmas sales. Then, as I was about to grab 

several bags of marshmallows off the  market shelf, I decided that 

I would try making these treats with my tried and true  

homemade marshmallow recipe. With a few tweaks to said recipe 

these treats turned out better than I imagined, and I am certain to 

never buy a bag of  marshmallows ever again!

What you need to yield a 9x13 pan:

3 packages unflavored gelatin

1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 stick of unsalted butter

 1/2 tsp sea salt

10 cups crispy rice cereal

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp pure almond extract*

 Confectioner's sugar, for dusting the 9x13 pan

Paper straws (optional)

*the almond was a last minute idea, and it really works

well with the nuttiness of the brown butter.  

The almond extract is optional.

Combine the unflavored gelatin packets with 1/2 cup

ice cold water in the bowl of an electric stand mixer,

fitted with the whisk attachment.  Pulse the whisk quickly,

to combine the gelatin and water, then let sit and 'bloom' 

while you continue the next step.

 In a saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup of 

water.  Cook over medium/high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves,

then just allow the syrup to continue boiling without stirring.

At this time, place the 10 cups of crispy rice cereal in a large mixing bowl, 

set aside.

 Continue the boil until you reach a temp of 240 on a candy thermometer.

The temp will sit at 220-225 for what feels like forever, so just be patient.

 So thankful I am able to grab this image from my previous

marshmallow post, as I totally forgot to snap this today!  Phew.  

I carefully pour the 240 degree syrup over the bloomed gelatin and 

begin whipping.  I whip on low for a minute, to the everything mixed up, 

then I switch the speed to high and set a timer for 10 minutes.

While the gelatin and syrup whip, slowly melt a stick of butter over

medium heat.  

At this time butter and shake the 9x13 pan with confectioner's

sugar.  Coating the bottom and all 4 sides with butter and the sugar.

Set the pan aside.

After the melted butter bubbles for a bit, the edges will start to darken.

Watch it closely, and pull the pan from the heat when the butter turns dark golden.

 

When removed from the heat I stirred the in the 

vanilla and almond extract into the brown butter. 

After the syrup and gelatin has whipped for 10 minutes and looks

beautifully white and fluffy, stop the mixer, and pour in the brown butter 

(with the vanilla and almond).  Then whip on low, increasing speed to medium, 

until the butter is incorporated and the marshmallow is smooth and fluffy.

I just pour the brown butter, I do not scrape the bits off the pan.

 

 Pour the marshmallow over the crispy rice cereal (I use a bowl scraper

to get all the marshmallow out of the mixer) and start combining, really 

pulling the cereal up from the bottom of the bowl with each stir.  

Place the marshmallow crispy mix into the prepared pan (I doubled

the recipe) then rub a little butter on your hands and press firmly into the 

pan.  Set the pressed pan aside for an hour.

After an hour I flipped the pan onto a cutting surface.  I used a sharp serrated 

knife to cut desired size squares (cutting off the irregular edges). 

Yum!

I decided the kids would love these treats 'on a stick'.

Of course you can do this same thing with store bought marshmallows, but the fluffy 

fresh marshmallow combined with the brown butter is simply outrageous!