Thanksgiving
is always my favorite holiday of the year of course since it is centered around
food and family. My in-laws came in town for a week, so we had plenty of meals
together including the main event on Thursday.
Leading
up to that week, my work had a potluck and I brought this cute veggie tray! So
happy with how it turned out. We decided he looked more like an Angry Bird
though haha!
My
friend Amanda also hosted a Friendsgiving the weekend before and I made a baked
brie. I’ve done this recipe several times before, but I tried a new version
this time with toasted pecans and Trader Joe’s apple jam. You can use whatever
type of nut and jam combination you like (here’s
the recipe from awhile back on my blog…)
Tuesday
night before Thanksgiving we had both sets of parents over and tried out a
recipe I’d never made before – Baked Four Cheese Butternut Squash Rigatoni.
I’ve recently become obsessed with the food blog Half Baked Harvest.
Everything I’ve tried from that website is incredible (actually 2 of my recipes
this year were from her!) Since I was cooking this after work and didn’t have
much time, I used Trader
Joe’s canned butternut squash puree rather than cooking a squash and
scooping out the insides myself.
Thanksgiving
dinner was at my Grandma Pat & Grandpa Craig’s house this year. They just
moved into a new place which has a huge kitchen so it’s perfect for
entertaining. We ended up with 19 people this year and more food than I think
we’ve ever had any other Thanksgiving yet. My contributions were Maple Roasted
Carrots in Hummus Sauce with Pomegranates and Pistachios as well as a Wild Rice
Salad with Cranberries and Nuts.
Then
on Friday, we had some friends and their parents over. I made my go-to easy Pesto
Crockpot Chicken, but then tried another Half Baked Harvest
recipe – Brown Sugar and Pineapple Acorn Squash with Spiced Brown Butter. I
think this is now my favorite way to make squash – it’s almost like dessert.
I’d
say all the new recipes this week were a success and I’ll definitely use them
again! What were your favorite dishes
this Thanksgiving? Send recipes you love my way because I’m always looking for
new ones!
Baked Four Cheese Butternut Squash Rigatoni
(adapted
from Half
Baked Harvest)
Ingredients:
- 1 can butternut squash puree
(found at Trader Joe’s)
- 1 head garlic, outer skins
removed
- 2 T olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 1 pound rigatoni
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 t dried oregano
- 2 t dried thyme
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- ½ cup oil packed sun-dried
tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded asiago cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- Turkey pepperoni (recipe called for 8-10 but we used way more!)
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2.
Chop the top 1/3 of the garlic off to reveal the cloves. Place in a muffin tin
and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake 20-30 minutes or until the
garlic is soft enough to squeeze out of the skin. Turn the oven to 450 degrees.
3.
Boil pasta in a large pot until al dente. Reserve 1-1/2 cups of the water
before draining.
4.
Add the butternut squash, roasted garlic, and reserved pasta water, milk,
oregano, and thyme to a blender. Season with salt & pepper and pulse until
smooth. Add the ricotta and pulse until just combined.
5.
Pour the butternut squash over the pasta and set the pot over medium heat. Add
the spinach, sundried tomatoes, and ¼ cup of oil from the sun-dried tomato jar.
Toss to combine. Cook until the spinach is wilted and the sauce is hot, about 5
minutes.
6.
Remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan and asiago cheeses. Spread the
pasta in an even layer in a 9x13 baking dish and top with mozzarella and
pepperoni. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is
melted and gooey.
Maple Roasted Carrots with Hummus
Drizzle, Pomegranates & Pistachios (adapted from Closet
Cooking)
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds carrots, peeled (I used
Trader Joe’s multicolored kind)
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 T maple syrup
- 2 T garlic hummus (or regular
hummus and add grated garlic)
- 2 T lemon juice
- 1 T parsley (I used the Gourmet Garden parsley paste that comes in a tube - it keeps way longer and tastes fresher than dried parsley)
- 2 T pomegranate arils (click
here if you need instructions on how to remove the arils yourself)
- 2 T pistachios, chopped
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2.
Toss the carrots in a mixture of 1 T olive oil and 1 T maple syrup. Arrange
them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Rub each carrot with a bit of parsley, then roast until tender, about 20-30
minutes, turning once in the middle.
3.
Mix together the hummus, 1 T olive oil, and lemon juice until it creates a thin
drizzle.
4.
Serve the carrots topped with the hummus, pomegranates & pistachios.
Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries and
Nuts (adapted from The
View from Great Island)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup wild rice (we used Trader
Joe’s Basmati & Wild Rice Medley which already has some seasonings)
- ¼ cup pecans
- ¼ cup cashews
- ¼ cup pistachios
- ¼ small red onion
- Sevral small inner stalks of
celery with leaves
- 3 green onions
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 T balsamic
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1 t whole grain mustard
- 1 t honey
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
1.
Cook the rice according to the package.
2.
While the rice is cooking, chop the pecans and cashews into pieces and put them
on a baking sheet in a 375 degree oven until just toasted (keep an eye on them so
they don’t burn!)
3.
When the rice is finished, add the nuts, red onion, celery, green onion, and
cranberries.
4.
Combine the olive oil, balsamic, lemon juice, mustard, honey, salt and pepper
in a jar with a lid. Shake vigorously. Toss the salad with half the dressing
and refrigerate until chilled.
5.
When ready to serve, toss with the remaining dressing.
Brown Sugar and Pineapple Roasted
Acorn Squash with Spiced Brown Butter (adapted from Half
Baked Harvest)
Ingredients:
- 2 large or 3 small acorn
squash, cut into wedges, seeds removed and reserved
- 2 T brown sugar
- 1 – 8.5 oz can crushed
pineapple, drained
- 6 T butter plus more for
greasing the pan
- 1 T olive oil
- 1-1/2 t ground cinnamon
- 1-1/2 t chili powder
- ½ t pepper
- Dash of red pepper
- Arils from 1 pomegranate
Directions:
1.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 pan with softened butter.
2.
Line squash wedges on a prepared pan. Evenly sprinkle them with brown sugar,
salt and pepper. Spoon the crushed pineapple over the wedges.
3.
Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it melts, foams, froths,
and begins to brown along the bottom. Remove from the heat and whisk the
browned bits of butter off the bottom of the pan, adding in cinnamon, chili
powder, and pepper.
4.
Pour the butter over the squash, then cover with foil and place in the oven.
5.
Roast for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and roast for another 30 minutes until
the squash is tender and caramelized.
6.
While the squash roasts, clean and dry the seeds. Season them with olive oil,
salt, pepper, and red pepper and toss to coat. Toast the seeds in the oven
until golden brown.
7.
Sprinkle your squash with pomegranate arils and squash seeds.
