Vegan MoFo Day 3: Pumpkin Baked Ziti

Another pumpkin recipe for you! Today I made the Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping from Veganomicon. This was initially something I ignored when I first looked through the book. I wasn't a big fan of pumpkin to begin with and savory pumpkin? No thank you, I thought. But one of my goals of this years MoFo was to step out of my comfort zone and try all kinds of squash in all kinds of dishes. I am so glad I made myself do that because this was beyond fabulous. Ridiculously good.

Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping


1 pound uncooked ziti or penne
2 onions, sliced very thinly
3 T olive oil
1 recipe cashew ricotta (follows)
1T brown sugar
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
White pepper and cayenne
2 c or 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree (not pie mix)
1/4 c. vegetable broth

Cashew ricotta
1/2 c. cashew pieces (approx. 4 oz.)
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
2 T olive oil
2 cloves fresh or roasted garlic
1 lb. firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1-1/2 t. dried basil
1-1/2 t. salt

Sage bread crumbs
2-1/2 c. bread crumbs, preferably freshly made
1/4 c. Earth Balance or olive oil
2 t. dried, rubbed sage
1/2 t. ground paprika
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 9×11 or 9×13-inch lasagna pan with olive oil. Prepare ziti according to package directions. Drain, rinse, drain again and set aside.
While ziti is cooking, make the caramelized onions: preheat a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Saute onions in oil until some onion bits are very brown and caramelized, about 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside.

Make the cashew ricotta
In a food processor, blend together the cashews, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic until a thick creamy paste forms. Add the crumbled tofu to the food processor, working in batches if necessary, until the mixture is thick and well blended. Blend in the basil and salt.

Place cashew ricotta in large bowl and fold in pumpkin puree, brown sugar, nutmeg, white pepper, cayenne, and vegetable broth. Add the cooked ziti and the caramelized onions. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and level with a spatula, pressing slightly.

Make the bread crumb topping: Melt margarine or heat oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Stir in the bread crumbs, dried herbs, and paprika and season with salt and pepper. Stir constantly until the mixture is lightly coated, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and spread over pasta mixture.
Bake 28 to 30 minutes, until the top of the ziti is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Makes about 6 kitten-sized servings

Vegan MoFo Day 2: Pumpkin Pie Brownies

Hello everyone! Yesterday you saw my fresh pumpkin puree. Today I dug in and used some of it. I made the Pumpkin Pie Brownies from VCIYCJ. It was my first time baking with my own home made puree. And it went well! I think the only difference is that my topping was a little gooier than it would have been with canned pumpkin. Or maybe I didn't leave it in the fridge long enough to set (I'm impatient). But holy crap who cares?! These brownies are fantastic. Somebody come take them away before I eat them all.

Pumpkin Pie Brownies (recipe from the PPK and VCIYCJ)

For the brownie layer
4 ounce bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin (half of a 15 oz can)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tablespoon tapioca flour (or arrowroot or corn starch)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the pumpkin pie layer
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
2 tablespoons tapioca flour (or use arrowroot or cornstarch)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground allspice

To decorate:
A handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan, or use a 9 inch square pan, preferably lined with parchment paper.

To make the brownie layer:
Melt the chocolate (I still don’t need to tell you how to melt chocolate, right?).
In a large mixing bowl mix together pumpkin, sugar, oil and vanilla. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, tapioca, baking soda and salt and stir to combine, then mix in the melted chocolate.

To make the pumpkin layer:
Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.

To assemble:
Use a spatula to spread the brownie layer into the prepared baking pan, taking care to bring the batter to the edges of the pan. Pour the pumpkin layer over it, leaving a little room at the edges if you can.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the pumpkin layer looks fairly firm (a little jiggling is okay) and has cracked at the edges a bit. Let cool for 20 minutes and then transfer to the fridge to set for at least an hour and a half. Once set, decorate with chocolate chips and serve

Makes one kitten-sized pan full of brownie.

Welcome to Vegan MoFo V

Welcome to the fifth annual VeganMoFo (Vegan Month of Food)!! I have participated every year so far. Initially I did one or two posts but last year I managed to do a post every day. Let's see if I can do it again!

My theme for the month is squash. Last year I ended up getting a bunch of squash in my CSA and I wasn't very creative with it. I ate most of it just roasted in the oven. Now I want to get more creative with it. And pumpkin! There are so many pumpkin-flavored tasties and here I am with just the occasional pumpkin muffin.

So the first thing I did to prepare for this month of squash is get a huge pumpkin and make a ton of puree to use in pancakes, pie, cheesecake, etc. Why not just use a can? Because making things from scratch is so badass! And as a side bonus, fresh pumpkin tastes better than canned also. I got a huge fairytale pumpkin from Trader Joe's. I cut it up, scooped it out (saving the seeds to roast later) and roasted the big chunks in the oven until soft. Then I scooped the flesh away from the skin and put it in a mesh strainer. After about an hour or so, a bunch of water had drained out. I took the remaining pumpkin flesh and stuck it in the food processor until smooth. That one pumpkin got me about 6 cups of puree!

On the left: the puree I made. On the right: my next victim

Fact: One fairytale pumpkin yields one kitten-sized container of pumpkin puree

What is Vegan MoFo?

Crafts: Duct Tape Wallet

I originally intended for this blog to be about cooking and crafting, but then I sort of forgot about the crafting portion. It's time to bring on the crafts!
I recently found myself in need of a wallet. I used to use a id card holder that had an attached keyring, which was good at first but after I added all the credit-card shaped things, my house key, car key, a few of those supermarket scanning things, and two house keys for people I regularly housesit for, it was way too bulky to fit in my pocket comfortably. I never even use most of that stuff. Time for something less bulky. So what do I do when I need something? Look for a DIY solution first, of course!
I first heard about duct tape wallets a million years ago but I always thought they looked kind of like...well, like a wallet made of duct tape. I guess it was the silver color that put me off. It just couldn't look like anyting but duct tape in a wallet shape. But once I saw them made with the colored duct tape, it was way better. They look really good. And nice and thin too. Even better than most regular wallets.  I used the tutorial here. Some of the instructions were a little off. I needed 5 strips of duct tape for the main part instead of 4. It's pretty easy to figure out once you've got the main section done.

Here's mine:

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Veggie Sausage

This post is dedicated to Charlene, the person who inspired me to go vegan (almost five years ago!). She was the first non-crazy vegan I met. She showed me that being vegan could be easy, delicious, and fun. And I really love being vegan now so thanks, Charlene! Incidentally, running into her this weekend and talking about vegan blogs reminded me to post on this blog more often than just the MoFo. So yesterday, I was home and I saw this bunch of broccoli rabe that had to be used, so I decided to throw something together. It actually came out really good, so here it is:

 

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Veggie Sausage

4oz pasta, in any shape ( I used cavatappi, or double elbow, pasta)

1 small bunch of broccoli rabe, cut into 3-4 inch pieces

4oz gimme lean sausage (half a tube)

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon thyme

salt and black pepper to taste

1/4-1/2 cup vegetable broth or water

Start a big pot of water to boil while you chop the broccoli rabe and onion. When the water boils, add the pasta. Add in the broccoli rabe about a minute or two before the pasta is done. When it's done, drain it and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet (preferably castiron) over medium-high heat and saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft and fragrant. Add the Gimme Lean Sausage, using your spoon to break it up into big crumbles. Stir in the red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. If everything starts to stick, add a few splashes of broth. When the sausage crumbles get a little golden colored, add the cooked pasta and broccoli rabe. Stir to get everything mixed together well and serve.