Lemony Pumpkin Ricotta Cannelloni

Didn't take long for the apprehension over (ew) pumpkin to pass, because this meal scored a perfect 10 !!

Excellent as a starter or a nice light meal.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked pumpkin purée (about 1 lb)
1 pkg pasta sheets (or homemade if you're that good!)
1 lb ricotta 
1/4 cup spinach and/or kale, finely chopped
3/4 cup parmesan
1 egg
2 garlic cloves, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon pepper

fresh parsley to garnish

Sauce:

1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
10 fresh basil leaves (green or in this case purple)
a couple sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 tsp sage

For the pumpkin purée you can use canned (not pie filling though) but if you have a whole pumpkin leftover from Thanksgiving or Halloween decorating, DON'T THROW IT OUT! In fact go buy more pumpkins! They're not expensive and they're easy to cook.

Place the whole pumpkin on a baking sheet, pierce it a few times with a knife and place it in a 375 F oven for 45-60 minutes.  Once cooled, cut in half and remove the seeds and strings with a spoon. Peel and cut into chunks then purée in a food processor. Trickle in a little water if needed. You can freeze the purée in ziplock bags in measurements of 1-2 cups for future use. Search "pumpkin" on this blog for lots of pumpkin recipes.

But we're going to use 2 cups of it right here!

Once the pumpkin is puréed, add the ricotta, egg, parmesan, garlic and lemon zest to the food processor and process until smooth. I used smooth ricotta to begin with but if you use traditional drain it first then process.

Fold in the spinach/kale.

Cook the pasta sheets then cut them in half. This made 16 cannelloni rather than 8 ones too long to fit on a plate!

Add a large spoonful of filling to each and roll up placing them seam side down in an oiled 13 X 9" baking dish.

Making the sauce:

Melt the butter and heat until golden. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, basil, thyme and sage.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of sauce on each roll and reserve the remaining sauce and leaves. Sprinkle with some more parmesan and cover the dish with foil.

Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes then remove the foil, spoon on the remaining sauce along with the basil and thyme and bake uncovered an additional 5 minutes.

Garnish with parsley and serve.

Serves 6-8