Creamy Pumpkin Spaghetti Sauce

You know how sometimes you need to eat something that feels like a warm hug? This is one of those times. Our weather forecast is rain, snow, and thunderstorms for the indefinite future, and I'm someone who jokes (but also not really joking) about being solar powered. One of my warm hug meals is spaghetti with this deceptively simple pumpkin cream sauce. It's a perfect sauce for chilly fall or winter weather, and as much as I love traditional pasta sauces, sometimes you need to mix things up a bit, you know?

Hence, this sauce, adapted from Budget Bytes. All amounts are estimated because measuring is overrated and because taste is subjective.

Saute 1 tsp minced garlic in 1 tsp olive oil for a minute. Add 1 cup pumpkin puree, 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth, 3 dashes smoked paprika, 1 dash cinnamon, 1 dash nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk it all together and simmer until you're just about ready to serve, then add 1/8 cup (2 tbsp) cream and whisk again. Serve over spaghetti and top with parmesan cheese, and let the comforting flavors embrace you in their warmth.

Adventures in Dinner

My honey doesn't often have time to go to the grocery store. But when he does, the results are markedly different than when I do the shopping. 

The essence of his shopping trips is "I like that. I'll get it." Whereas I usually try to buy ingredients that go together to make cohesive(ish) meals. Once, when I asked my honey to get groceries, he brought home: pizza rolls, frozen corn dogs, cereal, milk, and beer. Which would be great if we were a couple of bros in college, but we're not. 

Last week, we went to the store together. As we wandered through the produce section, my honey stumbled upon the peppers. "Ooh, jalapeños... Let's do jalapeño poppers." Now, I have never eaten a jalapeño popper, much less made one. I have no idea what else we might need. I assume there's cheese involved. Most foods worth eating involve cheese. Did my honey decide to purchase cheese to go with our jalapeños? He did not. 

Tonight, I decided to go for the poppers. Fortunately, there is almost always cheese in our fridge. A little cream cheese, some mozzarella, a dash of hot sauce, and we were in business. I have to say, they were pretty good. 

I may have to go with my honey's random food cravings more often. Perhaps starting with corn dogs. Mmm corn dogs.