Fall bounty

As a Halloween baby, it figures that I own pumpkin cookware such as a pumpkin-shaped spatula and cookie cutters…but now I get to add a pumpkin pot to the list! A Le Creuset pumpkin pot!  This turned into a delicious fall meal: pot pie and a collard green salad!

Pattypan

The CSA this week brought a whole bunch of exciting new things, including a pound of squash; we decided to switch it up and take the pattypan (flat-shaped) squash, for some added excitement.  After seeing a zucchini tart recipe with ricotta cheese, I was really thinking that the squash-ricotta combination would be perfect, especially on a hot day like today.  Aside from using the pattypan like any other squash, I wasn’t sure what to do with it.  A quick google search revealed the exciting opportunities for stuffed squash, but I couldn’t find exactly what I had in mind (ricotta, but not all mushy  cheese filling).  This didn’t stop us.  We pulled together our mental picture as best we could, and turned out a pleasing pattypan preparation.

Winter soup and winter salad

The rest of the East coast was buried in snow, so we figured we should eat something warm and satisfying as if we were caught in the snowstorm too.  As a fun variation on wild rice soup, we tried one with squash and sausage.  ib also made a wonderful salad with cabbage and raw beets that we could not get enough of.

Kabocha and collards curry

Turns out kabocha squash gets its Asian name for a reason (Japanese for pumpkin).   We found it delicious, especially when farm fresh and mixed with other fall vegetables in a rich green curry.