Pumpkin & Bacon Lasagne

Here's another nostalgic recipe from the other side of the family. It's loosely based on one of my husband's family favourites. His mum had created the recipe, but it was just something she kept in her head, not a written thing. I got the gist of it, added a few of my own bits and bobs, and have written up the recipe for sharing.
At first I was highly skeptical about how the pumpkin and tomato would mesh, but this wonderful marriage of flavours has to be tasted to be believed-it's honestly even better than a meat lasagne-and I have a wonderful recipe for that too! The bacon pieces scattered through the golden cheesy white sauce that tops this great family meal really makes it sing.  You could easily leave out the bacon for a vegetarian meal if you so desired.

PUMPKIN & BACON LASAGNE

800g-1kg pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cubed
1/2 cup sour cream or cream
3x chicken stock cubes
1/2 cup hot water
700g jar tomato passata
400g can diced tomato
1 tsp garlic, crushed
1 tsp mixed herbs
1-2 boxes dried lasagne sheets
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp plain flour
1 cup cheese, grated
2 cups milk
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese
80g diced bacon


Place diced pumpkin in a saucepan with water covering the top. Cook until soft. Strain the water and place the pumpkin in a blender with the sour cream, chicken stock and water. Puree until smooth.
In a saucepan heat up the passata, diced tomatoes, garlic and herbs until warm.
Heat the oven to 180C.
Place a layer of the pasta sheets on the bottom on the 9x13 inch lasagne dish. Top with a layer of the tomato mixture. Place another layer of the pasta sheets over the tomato mixture. Spread a layer of the pumpkin puree over these pasta sheets. Repeat, alternating the tomato mixture with the pumpkin puree between the layers of pasta until exhausted (the ingredients, not you!)
The last layer should end with pasta sheets.
To make the white sauce which covers these pasta sheets, place the butter and flour in a saucepan on low heat. When the butter melts, quickly whisk the butter into the flour while pouring in a little of the milk at a time, to make a smooth paste. Add the remaining milk and heat through. Add the grated cheese and stir through, and continue stirring until it has melted, and the white sauce is thick.
Pour this white sauce over the final pasta layer. Sprinkle with Parmesan and cooked bacon pieces.
Cook in preheated oven for approximatey one hour, or until the top layer forms a golden cheesy crust.
Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8

 

Herbed Chicken & Cream Cheese Pastry Parcels

In one of my last posts I was talking about this adorable guy I have been with for 7 years and am still dating.
He's my husband. Yep! Still dating. I'm going to shut up now because I hear that talking openly about your relationship (at least on social media) is an unlikable trait. Strange, I always like hearing about everyone else's relationships! Anyway, I wanted to share our date night dinner with you because this meal hits the list of favourites in this house. Luke brought home a gift for me one day, the most beautifully bound Italian cookbook called Limoncello and Linenwater. It's filled with nostalgia--old black and white photos, quotes from old Italian mamas and old fashioned good housekeeping advice. It's loaded with delightful Italian recipes that make the reader salivate.
The first recipe we both picked out of the book to create was for these delicious herbed chicken and cream cheese pastry parcels.

Encased in a golden envelope of pastry lies a tender chicken breast, marinating as it cooks in cream cheese, fresh rosemary, sage and thyme.

 The smell wafting out of the oven is sensational and the taste utterly enveloping of the senses. Due to its style of cooking in this herby, cheesy sauce, the chicken breast remains moist and tender, and the texture contrast is lovely.
Apologies for the flash photography-that's the trouble with cooking at the end of the day!

 Herbed Chicken & Cream Cheese Pastry Parcels (Adapted from Limoncello and Linenwater by Tessa Kiros pg. 173)

2 x small chicken breast fillets
3 heaped tbsp cream cheese
4 large tyme sprigs
4 large sage leaves
1 small rosemary branch
salt to taste
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F).
Remove the pastry from the freezer to thaw.
Meanwhile, pan fry the chicken on medium heat for a few minutes on each side until the exterior is nicely golden.  Strip the leaves off the herbs and chop finely (you should end up with 2 tbsp of herbs in total).
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese with the herbs, and season with salt.
Cut the pastry down the middle so that there are two even rectangles. Lather both parts of the pastry with half of the cream cheese mixtire. Lay each peice of chicken on each peice of pastry. Use the remaining cream cheese mixture to spread over each chicken breast. Fold the pastry up over the sides of each breast, making sure to overlap some of the pastry so that it holds together over the majority of the breast. (It's ok to have a small gap at the top where the pastry doesnt cover the meat.) Brush a little of the beaten egg over the pastry and discard the remainder.
Cook the parcels for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed up and is glossy and golden. Remove from oven and rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 2

NOTES: The cream cheese can be substituted for sour cream or mascapone.