Fall into Pasta and much More!
Sweet Potato Avocado Salad with Goat Cheese and Creamy Cider Dressing
Braised Chicken thighs with Acorn Squash and Mustard Greens
Butternut Squash Pasta Carbonara with Rosemary Bacon
Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Honey Butter
Sweet Potato Avocado Salad with Goat Cheese and Creamy Cider Dressing
Ingredients
Salad:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet potatoe, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon + ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 (5-ounce) bag fresh arugula or baby kale
½ avocado diced
½ cup crumbled goat cheese (or feta or blue cheese)
½ cup sunflower seeds or pepitas (pecans or walnuts work too)
⅓ cup dried cranberries
Creamy Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing
Ingredients
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 teaspoon salt more to taste
dash of ground pepper
Instructions
Put everything in a bowl and whisk until incorporated. You could use an immersion blender or electric mixer, but good old (wo)man power will do the trick just fine.
Instructions
POTATOES: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a bowl, add the olive oil, cinnamon, cayenne, a big pinch of salt, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Stir or swirl the bowl to combine. Add the sweet potatoes to the bowl and toss until all the potatoes are lightly coated. Spread the potatoes out onto a baking sheet and roast the potatoes for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, brown, and toasted around the edges. Make the dressing while the potatoes are cooking. Remove the potatoes and set aside.
ASSEMBLE: Add the arugula to a large serving bowl, top with sweet potatoes, avocado, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, and cranberries. Drizzle in just over half of the dressing and toss to combine. Taste and adjust with additional dressing as desired. Serve immediately!
Braised Chicken Thighs With Squash and Mustard Greens
Don’t have an acorn squash for this chicken thighs recipe? Use butternut. Not into mustard greens? Use kale, Swiss chard, or spinach.
Ingredients
2 Servings
1 pound skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs patted dry
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
2scallions, white and pale green parts sliced into 1-inch pieces, dark green parts thinly sliced
dried chiles de árbol
1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
¼ cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, divided
¼ acorn squash, halved lengthwise, seeds removed, sliced ½ inch thick
bunch mustard greens, tough stems removed, leaves torn
½ tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Preparation
Step 1
Lightly season chicken thighs all over with salt and pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Working in 2 batches and pouring off all but 2 Tbsp. fat between batches, cook chicken, skin side down, until skin is browned and crisp, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a plate, placing skin side up (chicken will not be cooked through at this point).
Step 2
Cook white and pale green parts of scallions, chiles, and ginger in same pot, stirring often, until scallions and ginger are golden, about 3 minutes. Add wine, bring to a simmer, and cook until reduced to about 3 Tbsp., 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and 1/2 cup broth and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Return chicken to pot, placing skin side up and overlapping if needed. Partially cover pot, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 25–30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Step 3
Add squash and remaining 1/2 cup broth to pot and push in squash so it’s mostly submerged. Arrange greens on top. Bring to a simmer, partially cover pot, and cook until squash is barely fork-tender and greens are wilted, 10–12 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to medium, and continue to cook until liquid is reduced by about two-thirds and has the consistency of thin gravy, 10–15 minutes.
Step 4
Remove pot from heat and drizzle vinegar over vegetables. Taste sauce; it should be plenty salty, but season with more salt if needed. Add chicken back to pot, turning to coat in sauce, then scatter dark green parts of scallions and sesame seeds over top. Serve with rice.
Step 5
Chicken can be braised 2 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Reheat covered over low.
Fresh Pasta Dough
yield: 2 servings
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
Making fresh pasta dough is fun and very easy. Traditionally, the dough is mixed directly on a board or counter but it is acceptable to begin the dough in a bowl to limit the cleanup. Laminate counter tops are fine for kneading dough but natural or engineered stone is best as it is non-porous and maintains constant temperature, especially important when working with yeast doughs.
In a bowl or on a countertop, combine the salt and flour. Using your fingers, create a well in the center of the mound, being sure that the well’s walls are equally thick and high. In a separate container, combine eggs and olive oil. Scramble eggs with a fork to incorporate oil.
Add 1/3 of egg/oil mixture to center of well. Using a swirling motion, pull flour from inner walls of well into eggs and mix until it forms a thick paste. If working on a countertop, be careful not to break through the walls of the well as egg will run out over the work surface. When center is no longer runny, add half of remaining egg mixture and stir to paste. Add remaining liquid and repeat. Continue to mix until fork is no longer effective and then turn dough out onto work surface.
Knead dough by flattening, folding it in half and pressing hard with the palm of your hand. Rotate 90’ and repeat over and over until dough is a consistent color (no patches of flour or egg mixture) and begins to feel springy. Pasta dough should be visibly bumpy but soft and smooth to the touch. To test, press a finger into dough. The depression made by your finger should spring back almost entirely. Flatten dough into a disk 1 ½ inches thick, wrap with saran and place in cooler to rest for 20-30 minutes or until finger divot does not bounce back. This means that the gluten that was excited in the kneading process has relaxed and the dough is ready to be rolled and cut.
Butternut Squash Pasta Carbonara with Rosemary Bacon
Simple and cozy…for nights when you’re craving Italian, but also want cozy fall flavors.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1 small squash)
1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt and black pepper
1 cloves garlic, smashed
2 slices thick-cut bacon
½ tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoons honey
1 recipe fresh pasta
1 large egg, at room temperature, beaten
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon salted butter, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. On a baking sheet, toss together the olive oil, butternut squash, garlic, thyme, and a pinch each of crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. On a plate, rub the bacon with rosemary and cayenne, drizzle with honey. Lay the bacon over top.
- Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes, flip the bacon and bake another 5-8 minutes, until the bacon is crisp, watch closely. Remove the bacon. If squash needs more time, return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
- Transfer the squash and garlic to a food processor. Puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Roughly chop the bacon, reserve for topping.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs and parmesan.
- Boil the pasta until al dente. Before draining, scoop out 1 cup pasta water, then drain the pasta and add the pasta back to the hot pot. Immediately add the egg/cheese mixture, tossing quickly (to ensure the eggs do not scramble) until the eggs thicken and create a sauce. Add the butternut squash puree, and the butter, tossing to combine. Thin the sauce with the reserved pasta water until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Divide the pasta between plates. Top with bacon. Twirl the pasta up…EAT and ENJOY.
Pumpkin Coffee Cake Muffins with Cinnamon Honey Butter
Moist pumpkin muffins stuffed with cream cheese, topped with crumbly streusel, and served warm. Perfect for all of the autumn weekends ahead, and best eaten just out of the oven with a generous smear of cinnamon honey butter. So GOOD!
Ingredients
12 tablespoons (3/4 cup) salted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Streusel
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold salted butter, cubed
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 16 cubes
Cinnamon Honey Butter
4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 16 muffin tins with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Add the pumpkin and milk, beat until smooth and creamy. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix on low-speed until just combined, being sure the batter is completely mixed.
- To make the streusel. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the butter and use your fingers to mix the butter into the flour until a crumble forms.
- Divide the batter among the prepared pan. Push 1 cube of cream cheese into each muffin. Evenly sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Transfer to the oven bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, make the cinnamon butter. In a small bowl, combine the butter, honey, and cinnamon.
