Pumpkin Salad

Ingredients:

3 cups of pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
extra-virgin olive oi
sea salt
12 tiny red onions or shallots, peeled
2 cups cooked wild rice*
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

How to prepare:

Preheat oven to 375.

Toss the pumpkin in olive oil with a couple pinches of salt, and turn out onto a baking sheet. At the same time, toss the onions also with live oil, sprinkle with salt, and turn out onto a separate baking sheet. Roast both for about 45 minutes until squash is brown and caramelized. The same goes for the onions, they should be deeply colored, caramelized, and soft. 

Now it is time to make the dressing. With a hand blender or food processor puree the sunflower seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and honey until creamy. You may need to add a few tablespoons of warm water to thin the dressing a bit. Stir in the cilantro, saving just a bit to garnish the final plate later. 

In a bowl mix them all. You can use cilantro on top. Kali oreksi!

Pumpkin Cannelloni with Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

700 grams pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cups ricotta

1/2 cups grated Parmesan

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage, plus 4 large whole leaves

1/4 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

1 package lasagna sheets

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

How to cook:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place pumpkin, along with 3/4 cup water, in a skillet. Cover and steam until tender, 20 minutes. Remove to a bowl and mash until smooth.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet and sauté garlic until golden. Transfer garlic to a mortar and pestle, then crush to a paste. Add cheeses, chopped sage, salt, pepper, and garlic paste into mashed pumpkin. Set aside.

Cook lasagna sheets about 2 minutes in boling water. Transfer to a plate and drizzle with olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking together. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water.

Liberally brush a medium baking dish with oil. Place a lasagna sheet on a clean work surface. Add 4 tablespoons pumpkin mixture to center of lasagna, roll into a cannelloni tube, then transfer to prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining sheets.

Pour reserved pasta water over lasagna and cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and pasta is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Cook butter and sage leaves in small skillet over until golden-brown. Drizzle over pumpkin cannelloni and serve immediately. Kali oreksi!