Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

Adapted from Cooking Light

As mentioned last week, I have A LOT of canned pumpkin to use.  It seems that pumpkin is usually used in desserts, but I decided I wanted to mix it up a little bit and found this pasta dish instead.  This dish was extremely easy to make and tasted rich, but was fairly low in calories.  I think my husband wasn't thrilled that it was vegetarian, but occasionally I force him to go without meat.  I thought the mixture of gorgonzola and pumpkin was unusual, but completely loved it. 

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups canned pumpkin
• 2 Tbs + 2 tsp dry breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbs + 2 tsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp minced sage
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 12 jumbo shells, cooked to al dente
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 Tbs all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ Tbs butter
• ½ cup (2 oz) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 1 Tbs chopped walnuts

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl stir in pumpkin, breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt, minced sage, pepper and nutmeg.
• Fill jumbo shells with pumpkin mixture and place in baking dish.  Bake in oven for 7 minutes, just to warm stuffed shells.  Do not overcook or shells with dry out.
• Meanwhile, combine half-and-half and flour in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk.  Bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add butter, stirring until butter melts.  Gently stir in Gorgonzola.
• Drizzle Gorgonzola sauce over ravioli and sprinkle with walnuts.  Serve immediately.