The Savory Pumpkin Recipe You Didn't See Coming

It's been a week, am I right? On Wednesday I sent a work email thanking so-and-so for choosing our restaurant and to see if they enjoyed their dinner. Then I double-checked my calendar and saw that I was a day early and they hadn't been in yet. So I sent another hasty email, apologizing for having my days mixed up and blamed it on 2020. 

Brent and I made the impossible, devastating decision to not spend Thanksgiving with either of our families. Blamed that on 2020, too. 2020 will forever be the scapegoat for anything wrong in my life. 

Instead of a rant about how incredibly sad I am to spend one of my favorite holidays without family and friends, I'm here today to dish about this tasty dinner idea. Even Brent, who is always wary when I stray from just a typical red-sauce pasta dish, heaped up seconds.

I had leftover pumpkin purée from making cookies last week, so I didn't have the full can this recipe called for. The full can probably would have helped, because this sauce was much too tomato-ey for me. I don't know why I didn't realize a pumpkin marinara would taste like pumpkin and tomato, but something was lost in translation. I took a quick peek in the fridge, swapped out some spices, and made this into a sauce my taste buds could hang with. I had penne, but this would be delicious with linguine or fettucine, as well. Let me know what your taste buds think! If you don't like it, it's not my fault, it's 2020.

also blaming 2020 for this terrible photo

Creamy Pumpkin Tomato Sauce    

adapted from here

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes

1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin purée

4 ounces cream cheese (half a standard cream cheese package)

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

-In a large skillet, sauté your garlic, onion and bell pepper over medium heat. Season with salt and cook until soft and fragrant. 

-Add the oregano, pumpkin pie spice, crushed tomatoes and pumpkin puree. Stir to combine and simmer for 5-7 minutes.

-Carefully transfer the mixture to your blender; blend until smooth.

-Pour back into your skillet on low heat. Add balsamic vinegar and cream cheese, stirring occasionally to melt the cream cheese. Simmer and taste; add more seasoning if necessary.

-Serve warm with your pasta of choice.