O-Face Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce

I had read somewhere last year (Thanksgiving 2009) that there was a nationwide pumpkin shortage. If I recall, there was actually a note posted on the Target shelf about the shortage to let people know. I remembered that when I was shopping before the holidays this year (2010), and since I was feeling much more festive and Thanksgivingy than the previous year, I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to stock up. Who knows, maybe everyone was going to stockpile canned pumpkin in fear of another shortage! Stranger things have happened, right? Well I’m sure you are shocked to hear it, but it’s almost February and I still have cans of pumpkin puree sitting in my pantry, waiting to fulfill their culinary destiny.



I saw this recipe in an old issue of cooking light and decided to try it out. The recipe was part of an ad for Buitoni, and the ingredients included their pre-made Alfredo sauce found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. That’s all fine and well, but I’ve had bottled Alfredo sauce before (it was not Buitoni brand, but still) and it was NOT GOOD. It tasted weird and preservative-filled, and the experience left me with a deep distrust of canned cheese. I was feeling ambitious, so I made Alfredo sauce from scratch. Not exactly the budget route, but way less expensive than years of therapy to deal with my food trust issues. I’m not sure that I’m ready to confront my feelings about canned cheese quite yet anyway. I used this recipe, found on Allrecipes.com, and then added the wine, shallots, and pumpkin puree. The original recipe calls for sage and green onion, but I didn’t have either of those things, and I didn’t miss them. The recipe also calls for the sauce to be served over pre-made cheese ravioli. I followed the instructions on this point, but I think the sauce would be better appreciated served over penne pasta or fettuccini (or any other sort of pasta that isn’t stuffed with cheese) so that the pumpkin flavor really comes through. The fine people of Buitoni probably have some choice words for me for sharing their recipe and then telling you that you don't actually need their products to make it... but they do make packaged fettucini and i'm sure it's the best packaged fettucini in all the land, so... there's that. (Also, i have no idea how to spell fettucini. Blogger, MS word, and Google have all corrected my spelling in different ways, so now I'm confused.)



1/8 cup of butter
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3/4 cup of Parmesean cheese (not Kraft sprinkle cheese- you want real, legit parm for this)
1/8 cup of fresh parsley (NOT optional- a lot of times I will leave out parsley from recipes just bc I don't have it on hand and used to think of it as glorified rabbit food- but if you're gonna make this sauce, spend an extra buck and buy fresh parsely. It's worth it.)
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1/4 cup of chopped shallots
1/2 cup of canned pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon if you are using dried (optional)
chopped green onions for garnish (optional)

Melt the butter and then add the cream in a medium saucepan. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes and then add the garlic, and gradually add the cheese. Keep stirring, and don't worry if it looks gloppy. Mine did too, but when you add the pumpkin later it evens out the texture. You can also add milk to thin it out a little. Add the parsley and then taste the delicious alfredo sauce you just made- from fuckin scratch! You're like an Italian grandmother! But way hotter, and with a better rack. Now, on to the next step.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside for a minute. Take a small saucepan and toss in the shallots and wine and let it cook down for a few minutes. The original recipe says to let it reduce to about a tablespoon, but I didn't wait that long, I think I still had closer to 2 tablespoons of liquid. Remove from heat and pour that into the saucepan with the alfredo, and put that back over low heat. Stir in the pumpkin puree. Now stop and taste, and try not to pee your pants, because it's going to be really good. Now is the time to adjust the texture. You can add more pumpkin and/or a little bit of milk if your sauce is lumpy or gloppy. It is extremely unlikely that you can add too much pumpkin. (You will still have probably half a can of the pumpkin left over. I debated making pumpkin banana bread, but this recipe turned out so so so good, I will probably just make this again. ) Once you get the sauce to the desired texture and the pumpkin/milk you just added is warmed through, you are done! Pour it over some warm pasta and dig in. You'll be making your O face in no time.