Pumpkin Patties with Goat Cheese on Mixed Greens

OK, OK, I know I cook pumpkin A LOT... but bear with me for awhile here.  I only have one left after this recipe.  And before we know it spring will be here and squash will be out of season, out of sight, and I'll have to start cooking food that maybe you'll appreciate more than pumpkin.  However, until that time comes I am going to shove this pumpkin recipe down your throat in hopes that maybe someone out there will decide to make something pumpkin inspired (that isn't dessert) and will fall in love with this winter vegetable in the same way I have.  

Without further ado, I bring you my very own recipe for Pumpkin Patties!

Ingredients

• half a medium sized pumpkin, rind cut off, and grated (with food processor unless you're working on your guns in the new year)
• 4 apples, 2 grated and 2 chopped
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp all spice

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.  Form them into hamburger sized patties.  In a pan, melt a bit of butter and heat your patty until it's golden on both sides.  You'll be able to fit four or five in at once.  At this point, you may want to place your patties on a baking sheet and put them into the oven to keep warm while you finish cooking the rest of them.  It should make about 15 patties - hooray for left overs!

Place patties on a bed of mixed greens, sprinkle with goat cheese and toasted pine nuts, and dress with a simple balsamic vinaigrette.  And thank me, because I think this is on your diet plan.

Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil, and Goat Cheese Salad

This is one amazing salad.  It has everything going for it.  It tastes fantastic, and its not only healthy, but hearty enough for a fall meal as well.  This recipe is from Bon Appetit October 2009, and you can find it here, on epicurious. The recipe claims to serve 6, but this is if you're having it as a starter or side salad. It only served two of us as a main course for dinner, granted we did go back for seconds.  I think it would make a perfect fall lunch as well.  Here is the recipe with the slight variations I made...

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup green lentils
• 6 cups of pumpkin cut into one inch chunks from one two pound whole pumpkin    
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 teaspoon hot paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 package (about 4 cups) mixed greens
• 1 package of goat's cheese (100 grams)
• 1/4 cup sliced fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar.

Preheat oven to 375 F, or 190 C.

Place 3/4 cup green lentils in a bowl of cold water and let soak for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, remove the seeds and guts from the pumpkin.

Then remove the skin and cut it into 1 inch pieces.  Place these in a roasting pan.  Pour two tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon hot paprika, and 1/2 a teaspoon sea salt over your pumpkin and toss until everything is evenly coated.

Place pumpkin in the oven and roast for half an hour, mixing about half way through.  At the same time, boil your lentils for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes is up, drain your lentils and place them in a large bowl with your freshly roasted pumpkin.  Add mixed greens, goats cheese, 1/4 cup of mint, and one tablespoon red wine vinegar.  Toss it all together and you'll have a great fall salad.

This salad is really good.  I enjoyed the contrasts in this dish.  For texture, you have crunchy greens, against soft pumpkin, and lentils.  Then for taste you have the sweet pumpkin flavor with a hint of spice versus the earthy taste of lentils, the salt of the goats cheese, and a bit of sourness from the vinegar.  My picture doesn't do it much justice, but visually it is appealing as well, as the purples, oranges, and greens make a very pretty dish.   

Pumpkin Lasagna

I had extra pumpkin leftover from when I made pumpkin muffins so I had to try my hand at another pumpkin recipe.  I searched Taste Spotting, an awesome foodie website for pumpkin.  I searched through the photos until I found something very original on another foodie blog, One Perfect Bite.  I mean it was lasagna, and I needed to redeem myself after the last lasagna failure, plus I had pumpkin in the fridge.

First of all I went to pick up ingredients after work.  I needed to get some lasagna sheets.  Of course they only had no pre-cooking required sheets so I bought them.  And there I was going back on my first self imposed rule of lasagna making....

When I got home I started off with the bechamel sauce.  I melted about half a stick of butter in a saucepan.  And then added 1/4 cup of flour.  Three cups of milk.  Then I went to the fridge to get out my goats cheese, which of course had completely gone bad.  So I skipped on the goats cheese, probably for the better of my waistline.  I added two table spoons mascarpone (side note: I really hate it when giada says mascarpone.  it seriously offends me), 1/2 a teaspoon salt, and a pinch of nutmeg.  Set this aside.

Meanwhile I was boiling my no pre-cooking required lasagna sheets in an attempt to not end up with crunchy lasagna like last time.

Then I started on the filling.  It was at this point that I realized I only had a third of the required pumpkin.  Oops.  So in a mixing bowl I added about 10 oz of pumpkin to 1/3 tablespoon thyme, 1/3 tablespoon sage, a pinch of nutmeg, a slice of wholewheat bread made into bread crumbs, 1/4 cup mascarpone, some grated parmesan, 1/8 a cup of brown sugar, 1/3 tablespoon salt and some black pepper.

Ok so ready to layer it up.  Except see I ran into a problemo here.  those no pre-cooking required sheets that I decided to cook - they all stuck together.  It was pretty much lasagna surgery trying to get them apart.  But luckily I had only made a third of the recipe, so I only had to peel apart a third of the sheets.

So then you do the whole layering thing.  Grease your pan, lasagna, 1/3 pumpkin mixture, a ladle of bechemal sauce, lasagna, pumpkin, bechamel, lasagna, pumpkin bechemal, lasagna, bechamel, 1 slice of wholewheat breadcrumbs, parmesan, DONE.

Cover with foil, pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.  Take off the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Sorry it doesn't look pretty but it was way tastier than my last attempt at lasagna.  I really liked the thyme and sage in it, they definitely added a dimension of earthiness that I wouldn't want to leave out.  And best of all its a new and exciting way to serve pumpkin.  Gotta love it.