pumpkin potluck

Megan and I hosted a pumpkin potluck on Sunday to celebrate the best gourd, and the wonderful fall season.

It was pum-tastic! 

(this is now the 100th time I've made this joke, it never gets old)

We had the fall decor ready to go!

 

Along with some mood lighting of course,

I made pumpkin lasagna (recipe below), and others brought delicious pumpkin dishes like chili, pasta, cookies, milkshakes, and beer. We also had some wonderful dishes that were not pumpkin, since variety is the spice of life -- fruit salad, chicken, and chocolate cookies. 

oh yes, a winner of a night.

Part of the feast:

It was so delicious, we were so full.  We couldn't even decorate paper pumpkins or play games as we had intended, the pumpkin feast was too much for our meager stomachs to handle! 

But so worth it.

PumpkinPant's Pumpkin Lasagna Recipe:

Layers (from Bottom to top):

Butter, Noodles, Onion-Spinach Mixture, Noodles, Pumpkin-Cheese Mixture, Ravioli, Onion-Spinach Mixture, Noodles, Pumpkin-Cheese Mixture, Noodles, Parmesan & Breadcrumb Topping

Ingredients:

Noodles: no-boil lasagna noodles, 1 large package of cheese ravioli

Onion Layer: 2 T butter, 1 onion chopped, 2 garlic cloves minced, 1 bag of fresh spinach, 2 links of faux (or real) italian sausage chopped, 1 cup of mushrooms chopped, salt, pepper, nutmeg, sage, thyme

Pumpkin Layer: ½ cup parmesan, a 14 oz package ricotta, 4 oz goat cheese at room temperature, a 15 oz can pumpkin puree, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cayenne, garlic & onion powder, 1 egg

Topping: 1 T butter, ½ cup shredded cheese, ½ cup breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Grease a 9 x 13 pan and preheat the oven to 400.

2. Sauté onions in butter until translucent about 5-8 minutes; add garlic and seasoning followed by meat and mushrooms and cook for another 3-5 minutes until brown and delicious.  Add in the spinach in batches until it cooks down, 2-3 minutes. Set aside. 

3. In a bowl, combine pumpkin layer ingredients and whisk until combined. Set aside.

4. For the topping, melt the butter and mix in breadcrumbs. Set aside with cheese.

5. In the pan: layer noodles, ½ of the onion mixture, and another layer of noodles. Then ½ of the pumpkin mixture followed by a layer of ravioli, then rest of onion mixture, followed by another layer of noodles and the remaining pumpkin mixture.  Top with one last layer of noodles and then breadcrumb mixture and shredded cheese.

6. Bake covered in foil for 20 minutes, and then uncovered for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

The halfway point - topping with cheese ravioli! 

The final product before it goes into the oven:

And out of the oven and ready to eat!

I hope you have been taking the time to celebrate the best gourd. 

'tis the season.

xoxo