All-Purpose Pumpkin: From Cannoli To Carbonara
After Thanksgiving and eating enough pumpkin pie to last you until next Thanksgiving, you open your fridge and somehow find even MORE pumpkin. The leftover puree seems to multiply every day that it is left in the fridge, so you finally decide to finish it off, for once and for all. But you cannot even bear the thought of any more pumpkin pie. Thankfully, pumpkin is like the all-purpose flour of gourds: you can work it into almost anything. Here are a couple of savory and sweet ideas to get you inspired.
SAVORY
Let’s start off with a simple one. A Couple Cooks’s 10-minute recipe makes a creamy, savory dip that pairs perfectly with some crunchy pita chips or baby carrots. All you need is a food processor, and you can make yourself this fan-favorite autumn side.
2. Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chicken Chili
Everyone loves a hot bowl of homemade chili, and what better way to get into the fall season than with some pumpkin chili? I know, it sounds unorthodox, but Eat This Not That’s recipe is savory and full of flavor, and best of all, it’s a slow cooker recipe, so it requires minimal effort for maximum reward!
Quinoa dishes tend to be a hit or miss, but The Wannabe Chef’s quinoa with pumpkin is for sure a hit. This side dish is creamy and comforting, served warm on cold autumn nights. Plus, quinoa is a heart-healthy food with lots of nutritional value, so this dish has plenty of health benefits as well.
Pumpkin might not be the first ingredient you reach for when you’re whipping up some carbonara, but Delish’s recipe shows how adding this secret ingredient makes the carbonara perfectly creamy and silky. Plus, bacon and pumpkin make for a surprisingly tasty combination.
SWEET
This light and fluffy, but still rich and creamy dessert is the perfect end to any meal, especially topped with some pumpkin seeds and cinnamon. A Couple Cooks’s recipe is super simple and only takes 10 minutes to make, and best of all, this even qualifies as a healthy dessert option!
As a huge cannoli fan and an even bigger fan of all things autumn, this fall-flavored cannoli really takes the cake. Delish’s recipe creates the perfect sweet and spiced bite, with the crunchy cannoli shell paired with the creamy filling and mini chocolate chips.
Still got that last bit of leftover pumpkin puree? Use it to make Minimalist Baker’s rich, subtly spiced pumpkin butter that pairs perfectly on top of waffles, pancakes, toast, oatmeal, or basically anything else!
