This Whole Wheat Pasta with Ricotta, Zucchini and Walnuts was made in partnership with Fisher Nuts in honor of my mom for Mother’s Day. This dish is a twist on a classic recipe my mom made me all the time growing up!

One dinner I always remember eating when I was younger was pasta with ricotta. It may seem a little different to you, but to me it was basically my family’s Italian version of your everyday blue box mac and cheese. Total comfort food in my book.

My mom has always been the Queen of pulling together fast dinners with whatever is on hand. I like to think I inherited this quality from her – dinner on the fly is something that I can pull of when I need to, it’s something I take pride in being good at (thanks Mom!). It seems that ricotta was one ingredient my mom always had in the fridge because we ate it constantly growing up, stirred into pasta like this for dinner or just scooped into a bowl with a little sugar sprinkled on top as a snack (or in cannolis for dessert!). In fact, I was inspired by my childhood consumption of ricotta when I created this recipe for Honey Almond Ricotta Spread just last year.

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(This recipe for Honey Almond Ricotta Spread is sponsored by Fisher Nuts.)

A few years ago I was in New York with my husband for his company holiday party. It was such a great trip, and we ate at some really amazing places. One restaurant, Laconda Verde, came highly recommended by Gail, and was absolutely memorable. I still think about the food we ate there – in particular a baked egg dish and their house ricotta plate immediately come to mind (you can check out photos of our meal here). I couldn’t help but think of that ricotta plate as I put together this Honey Almond Ricotta Spread. As much as I’d love to tell you I made this ricotta from scratch, you know that I did not. (wink)

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My family goes crazy over meatballs. I don’t make them enough but knowing it’s something everyone will surely eat I’m going to make an effort to cook them more often. They aren’t really all that hard to put together, and my thoughts are if you are going to make some go ahead and bake up a double batch (without sauce) and put into the freezer for later.

Whenever we visit my grandparents, you can pretty much count on meatballs being served with our pasta. My grandfather whips up batches of meatballs in large quantities and has a big stash in the freezer at all times for any spontaneous visits from grandchildren (and great grandchildren). He also likes to send me home with my own bag sometimes. I’ve been so spoiled by my grandpa over the years. You have no idea how awesome it is to have bags of meatballs, chicken cutlets, polenta and stuffed cabbage rolls in the freezer waiting for me. It’s such a treat for us – not only is it extremely helpful and convenient, but it’s comforting too. I live an hour away from my family, it may not be far for some but it feels very far for me a lot of the time. I try to get home as often as I can, but it’s not the same as living a few houses down from your grandparents (like I have my whole life).

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Patience. Something I’ve been majorly lacking in lately and I’m not proud of it. I’m not sure being patient has ever been a strong characteristic of mine but the older I get, the busier I get, the more unorganized I feel, the less patient I’ve become. It’s one of those things that I know I have to work on…but how does one actively work on patience? Can someone chime in here with any advice? Experienced moms, women, people…talk to me about this please. This is something I’m truly trying to change.

If I was a more patient person, I would probably cook with my kids more. Just sayin’. Here’s the thing, it’s not that I don’t enjoy my kids cooking with me, I actually love when they take interest in what I’m making or ask to help. I just think that most of the time when I’m cooking – I’m cooking fast. And fast cooking and kids usually don’t go together. Fast and baking don’t work well together either so maybe that explains my lack of enthusiasm for baking too. 😉

A couple of Sundays ago I decided my daughter and I were going to cook together. My son had a couple of basketball games (my husband coaches) and I knew that our littlest one would most likely not be able to hang out at the games all day. So it was a good day to spend some time at home, make a nice meal, and include my daughter in the process. It was such a nice feeling to know there was no rush to be anywhere for the day, that the boys were coming home later in the afternoon and that we would be able to all have dinner together. Dinner that my girl and I cooked up together. We even made some extra to share with my husband’s parents.

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Growing up, my family’s version of “macaroni and cheese” was quite different than the norm. I did not realize this until I was much older. Our go-to cheesy pasta dish always consisted of macaroni with just enough ricotta and lots of Parmesan cheese and I absolutely loved it. Simple Italian comfort food at its best. (Though it wasn’t too long before we discovered and began to love the stuff that came in the “blue box”. ) 🙂

Ricotta was almost always guaranteed to be found in my family’s fridge growing up. We added it to pasta dishes, and even had it as a snack in a small bowl with a little sprinkle of sugar on top. When I buy it now it’s usually to when I’m making baked ziti or lasagna and I often wonder why I don’t pick it up more often to enjoy in other recipes – like this one I created for the McCormick’s Go4Gourmet Challenge.

The Go4Gourmet Challenge challenges you to work with and create your very own recipe using 4 pre-selected seasonal ingredients along with whatever else plays to your tastebuds. I’m always faced with ingredient challenges like this in my very own kitchen when I play the “use it up” game – which happens pretty often – so this was right up my alley. My round of the Go4Gourmet Challenge was to create a recipe using the ingredients pumpkin, cinnamon, Mediterranean Sea Salt and Marcona almonds. I immediately knew I wanted to create a savory pasta dish of some kind and my childhood ricotta pasta dish came to mind and tied it all together.

I incorporated the pumpkin and spices into a creamy ricotta and Parmesan cheese mixture to add to whole grain pasta, topping it with a crunchy Marcona almond, panko and Parmesan crumble. I absolutely loved the crunchy bits of almonds in the topping! And of course we already know freshly grated Parmesan makes everything better…

This Pumpkin-Ricotta Pasta Bake is really nothing like my childhood “mac ‘n cheese”, nor is it even close to my kids’ favorite version of baked macaroni and cheese – my daughter made sure to let me know that. Instead, this pasta is a wonderfully flavorful and comforting seasonal dish that I could not stop myself from eating after it came out of the oven.  It’s unique, in a good way, and if you are a fan of savory pumpkin dishes like I am then I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

If you were asked to come up with a recipe using pumpkin, sea salt, cinnamon and Marcona almonds, what you make? Better yet, cook up your idea and submit it the Go4Gourmet Challenge here for a chance to win some an amazing assortment of spices and ingredients (each round) as well as a Grand Prize of a Gourmet pantry refresh worth $1000! Good luck and happy cooking!

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Life seems to happen when you least expect it. Two Sundays ago my son and I were on our way to church together with the plan of hitting up the grocery store with a shopping list full of recipe ingredients my family brainstormed that morning to cook up that afternoon and throughout the week (we were inspired the night before while watching Masterchef). Within the hour instead of to the grocery store, I was turned around and driving like lightning to the town I grew up in to see my grandfather in the ICU who took a turn after being admitted into the hospital for pneumonia two days before. I can’t even begin to tell you the heaviness I felt in my chest as I took that drive.

After a long, emotional roller coaster week, I am so thankful and happy to say that my sweet grandpa is on the mend. He is still in the hospital, and the road to recovery is still in front of him, but he is well on his way, thank God. He is a strong as an ox man that “can’t wait to get home and cook again” (his words yesterday). We can’t wait either.

It only felt right to share with you today a recipe for Ricotta and Spinach Fritters that my mom and grandparents have always made for us over the years. The last time I was home to visit, my mom had a plate of these “fritelli” (though made with swiss chard from the garden) sitting on the counter and my daughter and I pretty much polished off the entire plate during our visit. Growing up, it was not uncommon to have a plate of these out most afternoons for snacking. They are even delicious cold and straight out of the fridge. They are reminiscent of these summer squash and zucchini fritters that we also love and make often, but with the addition of some rich and creamy ricotta.

Enjoy.

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You’re going to want to make this.  If anything, just to get out of your comfort zone a bit.  That’s what I did.  I don’t have a ton of experience with butternut squash, working with it has always intimidated me a bit.  But come fall every year (well, that last few years)…I become slightly obsessed with it.  I want to make it.  I want to taste it.  I want to try every recipe I see with it.

But I never do.

So…my point?  I totally took a shortcut with this recipe and feel like I may have hit the jackpot in a way.  I got to make an awesome butternut squash sauce, without even touching that intimidating looking vegetable!  That excites me just a bit.

Here’s what I did… I doctored up some Pacific Natural Foods Creamy Butternut Squash soup, and created a wonderfully delicious pasta bake as my entry into the Everyday Chef Challenge No. 2.  The ingredients chosen for this challenge were Spinach and your choice of Pacific Natural Foods Creamy Soups.  You can be part of this challenge too…become a challenger and enter your own recipe, enter as many as you like, just make sure you use the secret ingredient plus a Pacific Natural Foods pantry staple in each recipe (you can get yourself a coupon too in the process).  For more specifics, see their challenge details page.  There are two winners in the end…one of the Featured Food Bloggers and one of the challengers (you!).  How fun would it be to hang out in Culinary Bootcamp in Napa together???

So here’s where I humbly ask for your vote.  If you think this recipe is worthy, hop on over to my entry page, scroll down and click vote!  You can vote once every 24 hours, up until next Wednesday.  I’m up against some amazing bloggers that crank out great recipes…so any help from you is beyond appreciated.

Enjoy!!

Creamy Butternut Squash and Shrimp Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 TB olive oil
• 3-4 large shallots, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped small
• 1 32 oz carton Pacific Natural Foods Organic Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup whole milk ricotta
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea salt)
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 10 oz carton frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained well
• 1/3 cup fontina cheese, shredded (if you can't find fontina, mozzarella is fine)
• 1/2 lb whole wheat penne pasta
• water
• salt

Directions:

1. Bring salted water to a boil. Add pasta. Cook until al dente 10-12 minutes.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Add peeled and deveined shrimp and cook until pink, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Set aside.
3. In same skillet, add shallots, garlic and chopped red pepper. Add pinch of salt and pepper, oregano and thyme. Cook for 8-10 minutes over medium heat until softened. Add two teaspoons tomato paste to cooked vegetables and cook for about a minute longer. Add Pacific Natural Organic Creamy Butternut Squash Soup and nutmeg and bring to a slow simmer. Simmer sauce for about 5 minutes until slightly thicker and flavors have combined. Taste for salt and pepper.
4. In a large bowl, combine cooked and slightly cooled pasta, shrimp, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, spinach, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Gently stir until slightly combined. Add sauce to pasta mixture and continue to combine. Add 3/4 of the amount of sauce.
5. Pour pasta mixture into a glass casserole dish sprayed with non stick spray. Spread pasta mixture evenly throughout dish and add the remaining amount of sauce to the top of pasta. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top of pasta and place in oven preheated to 375 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

(Disclosure: I am working Pacific Natural Foods as a participant in this promotion and have received a stipend.)

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