Creamy Pumpkin Tomato Sauce

The baking and cooking has virtually slowed to a crawl and then full stop with this sinus ‘thing’ running rampant in my head. It’s really getting ridiculous. It comes and it goes, and then it comes and then it goes. It has seriously overstayed its welcome, assuming it was even welcome in the first place [it wasn’t].

Sometimes [read: most times] when I get home from work I’m starving. Something about eating breakfast at 7:30 and lunch at noon means I’m usually pretty ravenous by 5:30. I should pack snacks, but I’m really not much of a snacker. I start out with a snack, and end up with a meal sized portion. It’s a problem. It’s like when I made that chocolate cake and had a “handful of mixed nuts” while making it. I ended up eating several of them, and wound up so full I didn’t want cake that night. It’s how it goes.

So hunger + sinus pain should have meant running through some drive thru somewhere, but that certainly didn’t happen. I wanted something much more comfy and cozy since I was grouchy that I couldn’t go to the gym. I didn’t want soup. I wanted…pasta. Yup.  I just so happened to have a package of whole wheat gnocchi in the pantry from Cost Plus [love that place], and enough of the ingredients for me to throw together a sauce of epic proportions. There is such a thing as an epic sauce, and I made it. It’s getting difficult for me to even attempt to utilize jarred sauce anymore. It helps that I have a [dwindling] stockpile of canned tomatoes from my grandma’s garden last year.

So yeah, it was a night of firsts. My first pumpkin tomato sauce and my first neti pot experience [I’ll spare you the details]. Between the pasta and the neti pot, I watched the Inter vs. Palermo soccer game [so good!], and then forced myself to bed at 9:30. I was determined to kick this sinus thing.

Regardless of my health status, this pasta sauce was absolutely good. I’d eat it again. I’d eat it without pasta. I’m actually thinking it’d make for a great substitute on a lasagna.

Serves 2-4 depending on your portion size.

Ingredients

• 15oz can/jar of tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of chili flake
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese [I used the vegan stuff]
• Salt
• Pepper

Preparation

1. In a high walled skillet or saucepan, pour in the tomatoes plus juice and balsamic vinegar.
2. Heat on medium-high.
3. Toss in the garlic clove, chili flake to taste, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium and cover to allow flavors to simmer together, 10 minutes.
5. Remove lid and allow the juice to cook down a few minutes. It will still be pretty watery.
6. Add the pumpkin and mix thoroughly.
7. Once the pumpkin has meshed with the tomatoes [your mixture will now be pumpkin colored], add the cream cheese and mix.
8. Continue to heat for 3-5 minutes until desired consistency is reached.
9. If you’re me, add more pepper.
10. Add pasta to sauce and mix. Or pour directly over pasta. Or just eat a few spoonfuls. I did.