Pasta Trifecta

I've been remiss over the last few weeks - somehow I didn't get a chance to actually share my pasta dishes with Presto Pasta Nights. So this week I'm making up for it in Spades...or at least in three.

This Whole Wheat Pumpkin Mac 'n Cheese is so tasty and I felt so devious in serving it. That's because it's made with pumpkin, normally not a staple around here, if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong, my Honey loves pumpkin... in a pie - who doesn't!...
...and he will eat roasted squash, if it's roasted with brown sugar or a drizzle of balsamic vinegar & maple syrup, as long as it's served with his favorite... grilled steak. But, like many people, his view of pumpkins is that they are really planted for carving Hallowe'en pumpkins. This recipe is from Chatelaine Modern Classics (I just wrote about it) where there are 15 other gorgeous looking pastas I have to try, but this one caught my attention and I wanted to see if he'd notice the pumpkin in the recipe. Well, he was so taken by the richness, that I didn't have the heart to tell him. Now it's just our little secret.

A couple of weeks ago I bought some fresh stuffed pasta purses - Perloni at Costco and stuck them in my freezer for one of those "I can't do anything" days... like last week. I popped the frozen stuffed purses into boiling water and decided to toss the cooked babies with some Jalapeno Cilantro pesto (from a great hummus recipe) and some goat & Parmesan cheeses. It was very tasty, but I hadn't taken into account that the perloni was stuffed with spicy Italian sausage, cheeses, and arugula, which sort of overpowered the sauce. Next time I go the delicate, rich & creamy cheese route, I'll go for a more subtle stuffing, like cheese & spinach, or roast chicken & leeks.
Naturally, I've had these spicy perloni on the brain, trying to figure out how to serve them. This time I tossed them with something a little more savory... oven roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, sun-cured black olives, the last of the jalapeno cilantro pesto and some good olive oil with lots of freshly ground pepper and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Frankly, this was the best of the three pasta dishes.

And now I can sleep easy, without any Presto Pasta Night guilt. I'm sending this off to Claudia of Honey From Rock, this week's Presto Pasta Night host. You can still send her your own bowl of deliciousness. Please send all your tasty treats to claudiariley (at) yahoo dot) com and cc me - ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com .