A Little Bit Of This & A Little Bit Of That

My cooking style can be defined as all of the following: experimental, untrained, and in the moment. I don’t follow recipes often, and when I do, I take liberty with measurements and instructions. When it’s time to cook, I don’t make lists or plans ahead of time, and instead walk the aisles of the grocery store searching for inspiration. Lately I’ve been on a mission to cook at home more and eat out less, and last week I threw together a little bit of this and a little bit of that to make what I’m calling pumpkin alfredo pasta.

October is informally known as pumpkin spice season which, in conjunction with an Instagram post by @rachlmansfield, and the pumpkin filled aisles of Trader Joe’s, sparked the inspiration for a weeknight cooking spree.

Like I mentioned earlier, I take a lot of liberty when it comes to recipes aka I glance at them once and then do whatever I so please. This often gets me into trouble, but I like the challenge so I continue to wing it. After I posted videos of my creation on Instagram Stories, I received a number of messages asking for the recipe, but since I didn’t really follow one, this is the closest I can get:

Ingredients

  • Trader Joe’s Sundried Tomato-Basil Chicken Sausage
  • White Mushrooms
  • Farfalle Pasta
  • Coconut Cream
  • Pumpkin Puree
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Arugula

Step 1: Remove sausage casing to create crumbles. Brown sausage and mushrooms in a pan

Step 2: Boil water and cook pasta until slightly underdone. Save about 2 cups of pasta water for your pumpkin sauce.

Step 3: Add underdone pasta, sausage and mushrooms to the same pot. Add pumpkin puree, pasta water, and about a cup of coconut cream (yes I know, exact measurements would be nice, but like I said, I was winging it)

Step 4: Turn on the burner to medium heat and bring your sauce to a simmer. This will help it thicken and finish the cook on your pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pro tip: If you find that your sauce is coming out a bit too thin, stir in a bit of flour to help thicken it.

Step 5: Serve on a bed of arugula and enjoy!

If you take a stab at this Fall dish, let me know! I’d love to hear what variations you tried as well, and as always, don’t forget to follow along on Instagram!