The start of the school year also really marks the start of a new season: fall! While we’re not quite ready to watch those leaves fall just yet, here are some delicious autumnal recipes featuring the darling of the season: pumpkin, and its close cousin, squash!
Hearty, savory-sweet, and filled with nutrients to boot, pumpkin and squash are great options to add some texture and oomph to many dishes. We also love how amazingly it pairs to other ingredients like cheeses (yum!), rice and grains of all sorts, pastas, and meats. It’s so versatile, and just a great ally in the kitchen to balance out heavier, fattier foods like meats, creams and oils.
In case you were wondering (and you know you were), are pumpkin and squash one and the same? Well, yes and no. Pumpkin is a type of squash, and the squash family includes hundreds of varieties, including varieties we know and love, like butternut and acorn. Whichever you select, make sure you always pick a pumpkin or squash that’s hard as a rock, and avoid any with bruises or soft spots.
Below are 8 delicious and nutritious recipes to kick off the season and to tide you over until Pumpkin Lattes make their debut!
This soup could not be easier to make, and it’s comforting and hearty without being heavy. We paired it with salty prosciutto to add some nice saltiness to the naturally sweet squash.
Fall comfort food can sometimes err on the site of heaviness, which is easily avoided by presenting everything in a salad format. We took the natural sweetness of squash, enhanced it with a nice roast with a drizzle of honey to caramelize it, and paired it with creamy mozzarella burrata, for a satisfyingly luscious yet light dish.
Ever wonder how to make plump, delicious ravioli from scratch at home? Here you go! Making your own pasta, in this case Ravioli, is not as complicated as it sounds. Our recipe for Pumpkin and Pancetta Ravioli is served with a creamy butter and sage sauce, and topped with chopped nuts - the perfect dish for cool nights and crisp fall days!
Think of a quinoa bowl as a beautiful - and delicious! - white canvas, which you can paint with colorful veggies, nuts and seeds, and pretty much any topping you want. We roasted some butternut squash, sautéed some onions, and tossed it all together with almonds and goat cheese for a fall-perfect vegetarian quinoa bowl. To take it one step further and make it vegan, sub for a cheese alternate or just remove altogether.
Learn how to make your own pizza dough, and have a great, healthy dinner alternative filled with veggies! This pizza dough recipe is easy and only needs an hour to rise. The topping is essentially any root veggie you have around, including our start, the squash, roasted to perfection with spices. Of course, mozzarella cheese is also a must-have in this fall pizza bonanza!
Who says we have to wait till Thanksgiving to enjoy a nice slice of pumpkin pie! Our secret ingredient to this creamy pie is mascarpone cheese, which adds sweetness and extra lusciousness.
This short and plump Italian pasta is a beloved staple in Italy, where it’s typically made with potato – not the most nutritionally wealthy food. Pumpkin or squash makes a great and delicious alternative to potatoes, adding rich color and nutrients. The trick is baking the squash to avoid adding water to the mix, which would turn these too chewy and gruel-like.
It’s never too early to start thinking about new and delicious Thanksgiving recipe ideas! Perfect for a vegetarian or even vegan Thanksgiving celebration, this is a hearty and beautiful dish that will impress guests with its looks AND flavor. Easily adaptable, the filling can be substituted with quinoa and even farro, or just your favorite grain. And if you want to make it fully vegan, substitute the butter for olive oil and nix the cheese (or use vegan cheese).