Stoners' Kitchen: Spiced Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

Here's a recipe I came up with while preparing an impromptu meal for a group of friends. When we first moved into the house, Gerad and I discovered that we have gratuitous amounts of pasta in the kitchen and for that reason whenever I cook for more than three people spaghetti is always on the menu. However, there's only so many times I can cook a straight tomato sauce before it becomes too mundane to even look at.

So there I was, standing above my stove stirring sauteed onions and chopped tomatoes listlessly when I realized I didn't have enough tomato paste to give the sauce it's proper consistency. Craaap! They say necessity is the mother of all invention and it was certainly true in this case. Just when I was about to announce to my guests that they might want to consider a Jack In The Box run, it hit me: Pumpkin. Three ginormous cans of pumpkin puree had been wasting away in my pantry for months with no hope of reprieve since pie-making isn't exactly my forte. By adding a decent amount of the puree, I fixed the consistency and put a new, autumnal twist on a mainstay meal.

Spiced Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

Utensils
1 large sauce pan
1 wooden spoon
1 large chopping knife

Ingredients
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
2 tbs garlic, chopped
1 can of peeled tomatoes
2 pour red wine
2 pour white balsamic vinegar
3 pour of veggie broth
5 shakes of Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, rosemary, sage)
3 shakes of red pepper flakes
1 small can of plain tomato sauce
Enough pumpkin puree to reach a thick consistency
A drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pumpkin pie spice (nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon) to taste

• Add all ingredients up to the plain tomato sauce and simmer until onions are soft and tomatoes have become mush-like (mash them with your spoon if you're one of those weirdos that "doesn't like tomatoes if they're in their natural form")
• Add tomato sauce and pumpkin puree and STIR, STIR, STIR on low heat until sauce starts to bubble slightly.
• Remove from heat and stir in olive oil, salt and pepper and pie spice.
• Ladle on top of pasta of your choice (I used butternut squash ravioli).

Enjoy!

!!!

Introducing a New Feature!

Hello my lovelies! I hope everyone is well-rested after a weekend of celebrating sweethearts or presidents or both... or neither. Me? I'm kicking back after a decadently lazy weekend in Oregon and excited to unveil a new recipe section of The Brains for those who love full, fresh bowls... of food, that is. However, before I get to that I need to fill everyone in on the weekend's details.

From Portland to the coast, Gerad treated me to one epic win of a Valentine's getaway. Zac and Kristi, as always, were the coolest hosts a person could ask for. Seriously, Portland should put them on the payroll as, like, professional tour guides or something like that. They take us to the most amazing restaurants and always have a new place to check out when we visit. This trip down, we splurged on spiced sangria and debated the difference between prawns and shrimps at Nuestro Cocina and then got our lounge on at the all- night Friday the 13th party that their roommate was involved in organizing. By 1 AM, I was about to turn into a pumpkin so Gerad and I went back to the bed and breakfast he had sneakily made reservations at for the night. We woke up in the morning and ate shitake fritatta with an older couple from San Francisco who were in town to take tango lessons.

From PDX, we headed west toward the 101 and drove down to Beverly Beach. The drive out to the coast is a kaleidoscope of scenery: Lush farm land gives way to winding mountain highways that suddenly run up against jagged shoreline. We stopped at a seafood shanty in Depoe Bay that I had once stumbled upon during a college road trip called the Sea Hag. I didn't know that calamari came in steak form but apparently it does. And when it's fresh, battered and fried it's heaven with a side of cocktail sauce.

At about 3 PM, we rolled into our camp site. Yes, I said "camp site". February is a perfectly reasonable month to plan a camping trip. We walked down to the beach and I went nuts with the picture taking while we waited for the sun to set (see my Slideshow for the new photos). And I have to say, I was very pleased with how our sleeping arrangements worked out. We set up the ultimate lazy man's camp. Why bother with a tent when you can just set up a nest of pillows and sleeping bags in your hatchback car and cover up with an electric blanket? We even set up the laptop and spooked ourselves silly by watching scary movies all night. It was great, I felt very leet. The next morning we capped off the weekend with a stop to a very sacred place for Gerad and I: the Tillamook Cheese factory. We skipped the tour and went straight to the cheese curds. :)

And speaking of food, back to the matter at hand. Without further adieu, I'd like to present to you a new section... The Stoners' Kitchen! I will give you one guess as to what its purpose will be. My inspiration for this comes from vegan recipe sites such as Happy Herbivore (see Ch-ch-check It Out!). I've recently adopted a nearly vegan diet. With the exception of cheese, I've managed to cut all other animal products out of my cooking, which has restored a significant amount of nutritional value to the meals I make.

Another trait that all my meals share is that they are prepared with enthusiasm and *ahem* a little help from my green grocer. It saddens me to see my kind friends forced to live off Hot Pockets and fast food because too many complicated instructions or fear of the stove stand between them and fresh, healthy food. My recipes eliminate the guess work, can be prepared in one pot with minimal kitchen utensils (when my recipe calls for a tablespoon, I mean an actual table spoon, like one you would eat cereal with) and will normally feed up to three hungry stoners.

This first recipe came to me when I decided that $3.00 was too much to spend on an Annie's Organics Burrito. I envisioned this wrapped up in a whole-wheat or corn tortilla but we didn't have any at the house so I made a side of sweetened couscous to balance the spice of the curry. I'll include the recipe for that at the end. You can add ground beef to this if you want to be a filthy carnivore, or use TVP or tofu to keep it vegan.

Vegetable Samosa Filling

Utensils
1 shallow sauce pan with cover
1 chopping knife
1 spoon

Ingredients
1/2 tbs ghee (if you want authentic Indian taste) or coconut oil (if you want vegan and healthier)
a 2 pour of water
a 4 pour of veggie stock
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 tbs garlic, chopped
1/2 tbs ginger, chopped
1/2 tbs ground coriander seeds
3 shakes crushed red pepper
1 tbs garam masala
1/3 tbs turmeric
1/3 tbs cayenne
2 tbs curry powder
5 large red potatoes, chopped dice-sized
enough water to cover potatoes
a bunch of frozen green peas
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt ghee or oil in pan on Med/High heat and then add all ingredients up to the potatoes. Stir well and let the stuff boil until the onions are soft.
2. Add the potatoes, as many peas as you think are necessary and enough water to just cover the potatoes. Cover and let boil until potatoes are soft.
3. Uncover and turn heat down to Med/Low. Take your spoon and mash potatoes until the mix is paste-like with a few whole chunks. Continue to cook until most of liquid had been absorbed.
4. Cool and serve.

Slightly Sweet Couscous

Utensils
1 measuring cup
1 small pot with cover
1 spoon

Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup couscous
10 drops of vanilla extract
a bunch of crushed almond
pinch of parsley
a drizzle of agave nectar or honey

1. Bring cup of water to boil.
2. Add vanilla extract, almonds, parsley and couscous to water and stir.
3. Wait for couscous to boil then cover and remove from heat immediately.
4. Wait two minutes and then uncover and fluff with spoon before serving.
5. Top with a drizzle of agave or honey.

Voila!

!!!