Cheesy Pumpkin Stuffed Shells with Browned Butter Sage Sauce

Well, hey there Endless Simmerers!  Hope everyone had a fantabulous holiday last week and enjoyed copious amounts of leftovers.

I don’t know about you, but it is getting cold up in my neck of the woods.  Time for comforting, bubbly, cheesy foods.  AmIright?

Katt brought you some classic stuffed shells earlier this month, but now it’s time to get a little crazy. This meal was based purely on cleaning out the fridge.  I had some ricotta from my first attempt at ravioli making (not exactly a fail, but not exactly a win) and some pumpkin from Thanksgiving-y things.

So, this love child was born.

Enough chit chat.  Let me show you how this came together.

Cheesy Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

serves 4-6

For the shell innards:
1 tbsp butter
1-2 cloves garlic
2/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
heaping 1/2 cup of ricotta
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (or dried if you wanna)
1 egg white
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
salt & pepper to taste

Heat your butter in a skillet and throw in the garlic.  Get it all nice and toasty, then throw it together with these other ingredients.  Mix it all up!

Additional ingredients you will need:
12 large pasta shells
4 tbsp butter
6 fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Boil 12 large pasta shells until al dente & then rinse in cold water (for easy handling).

Spoon the mixture into the shells (or pipe it in, if you are fancy).  Get your sauce going.

In a cast iron skillet, brown 4 tbsp of butter.  Throw in some sage leaves (I used 6) and 1/2 cup of hot pasta water.

It’s going to be bubbly and deliciously aromatic.  Just sayin’.

OK, so preheat the oven to 400 degrees and put your 12 stuffed shells in your cast iron skillet with the sage/butter sauce.  Top with shredded cheese.  I used a 1/2-cup mixture of white cheddar and fresh parmesan.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Optionally, you could saute some mushrooms to pour over this dish.  I sauteed some baby bella mushrooms in butter and deglazed the pan with wine.  What?  I was feeling the culinary spirit.

The only thing that could make this better?  Bacon.

“Hungry monster” is Renee from http://attackofthehungrymonster.blogspot.com/, a cooking and (occasional) crafting site.  She’s a self-taught home chef who likes to put her own spin on classic recipes.  Go visit her blog and say hi.  Or follow her on Twitter  @athungrymonster.