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Pumpkin Ziti with Caramelised Onions and Sage Crumb Crust.....

....or something like that. Firstly I didn't have any Pumpkin and secondly I didn't have any Ziti (which is a type of Pasta doncha know!!) but as if those two minor things would stop me from making something I want. This recipe is of course out of Veganomicon and it's the first time I've made it, though I've had my eye on it a while, especially after having seen a fair few bloggers post about it. Two Vegan Boys Vegan Deliciousness
To name just two ('cos I can't remember where I saw the others!!)
First let me introduce you to my Butternut Squash It was blinking HUGE. I wish I had weighed it now, but ohh well...lah dee dah. This was the only one I managed to grow this year - and it was a total fluke at that. Let me explain. When my compost bin is full I have the habit of chucking my Veggie scraps over our wall. "WHAAAAT!" I hear you cry. "Your poor neighbours!!" Well fret not - I don't have neighbours on the left of me - what I have instead is a patch of waste land that is used as a walk through. The bit right next to our wall is off the path and is left to go wild. At some point last Autumn some Butternut Squash Seeds were in the Veggie scraps and a Plant was born. Cool Huh! I accidentally pulled this beaut off the stem when I was turning it over to get the sun on the underside - but there was no need to panic as they will carry on ripening off the Plant. It has been sat in my kitchen for MONTHS and today was the day to eat it up. I cut it in half and baked one half of it still in it's skin (this is by far the easiest way to do it - have you ever tried peeling a Butternut??Not easy) and used this to replace the Pumpkin that the recipe called for. I had loads of Puree left over so that has gone in the freezer (I reckon it'll freeze OK) and I still have half a Butternut in my fridge which I'll probably end up just roasting. YUM! Anyhoo - here's the result Let me tell you this was totally scrumpalicious!!! Lots of work involved (especially if you're doing your own Pumpkin/Butternut puree) BUT it was so worth it.
I did change the Cashew Ricotta recipe a bit as well because I don't know if it's the brand of Tofu I use or what - but it always has a slight Banana taste to it - honestly - I'm not going mad (going??!!) Mr treehugger said the same thing (about the Banana taste not me going mad - pay attention!!). So this time I omitted the Lemon Juice, Dried Basil (only cos I didn't have any - I used Oregano instead) and I added some Nooch and Marmite. Let me tell you - I'm gonna make it like this all the time now - SOOOOOO much better.
And I have managed to find a really nice Vegan Bread that was pretty similar to the one I used to buy but without all the nasties natch! YAY! Catch ya laterz y'all - hope you're all keeping warm and well. xxx Todays song is the theme tune from Bod - I can't help it - it's what's in my head.
at 09:42 Labels: Bod, butternut squash, cashew ricotta, growing, Veganomicon Becks - Not a Rabbit. said...

You totally sweded that recipe! (did you actually use any ingredients that the recipe called for in the end?!?) >:o)
T.V has a friend called 'Bod' (but he refuses to ask why that's his nick-name!?). Every time he mentions him I get that damn tune in my head!! It's driving me nuts!!
*Hugs a Hippy*

25 November 2008 at 11:39 
Yes rabbit - I used Onions.....
Hee hee hee

25 November 2008 at 11:44 
lol! that's funny. Well hye, no you created your own recipe:d You should start saving these , maybe one day you can create a cookbook with all your "I'm out of all the ingredients , but I know that I am going to make something awesome anyway " creations!

25 November 2008 at 12:29 Lily Girl said...

Yum, carb-fest! :)
 
holy crap that mutha is huge!!! Accidental squash growage - that is the most awesome thing i've heard today!

25 November 2008 at 13:15 
Jeni it does look totally scrumpalicious!! Wow, I want to move into that baking pan and never come out!

How super cool that the squash plant grew from your veggie scraps! Mother Nature can be so awesome!

YAY for vegan bread without nasty stuff! I've been making our own bread for a while because of the nasty stuff that's in affordable breads, and because of the ridiculously expensive price of "normal" breads!

25 November 2008 at 13:18 Lisa -- Cravin' Veggies said...

Ha! You definitely made that recipe your own!!

I've been eyeing that up in V'con, and have seen it around, but I haven't made it -- I usually don't have all of the ingredients all at once. But now that I know that I can substitute something else for every ingredient but onions... ;0)

25 November 2008 at 13:24 
I love your accidental butternut! I really like 'em, but they are hard to come by here. Your ziti looks délicioso!

25 November 2008 at 14:09 jumbleberryjam said...

DHOH! (smacking hand on forehead) Why didn't I plan to make this for Thanksgiving Thursday?!? Love the guerrilla gardening story :-).

25 November 2008 at 14:23 
that's too funny about the butternut squash growing out of scraps! we get squashes growing out of our compost piles, too! and tomatoes - too funny! :) scrumpalicious - indeed! your dish looks sooooo awesome, Jeni! WOW! i like your version, too - sounds like i would have tweaked it the same way! great minds think alike, right?! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

also, hooray for finding a rock'n vegan bread!

25 November 2008 at 15:52 
That is an awesome squash. And the dish looks delicious.

25 November 2008 at 16:00 
What a cool story about how you started a squash plant!

25 November 2008 at 16:55 
That is my new favorite recipe out of Vcon. Also, I have squash coming out my ears, so lat night I started baking and pureeing it. It is time consuming, but so much cheaper than a $3 can of pumpkin!
 For the Love of Guava said...

oh wow!! That butternut squash is amazing! If you were over here in the colonies (Arrested Development joke... anybody.. anybody??) you could enter it in some sort of Fair!! Yum! I really have to start composting so I can have such ginormous accidents!

25 November 2008 at 18:45 
Oooh, that's genius! I love that recipe, I bet it would be delicious with butternut squash too. I love that you accidentally grew a squash plant.

25 November 2008 at 21:44 
I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was so YUMMY! Seeing this post makes me was to make it again soon!

25 November 2008 at 22:01 
Yum! I don't really use pumpkin in anything but I sorta feel like making this!

And hooray for plants popping up from discarded veggie seeds!

26 November 2008 at 00:34 aTxVegn said...

How cool to get an accidental squash! That ziti looks wonderful, and the way you described it's flavor - mmmmmm!

26 November 2008 at 03:34 kmouse said...

That looks good! I just made a butternut gratin today and my squash was a puny 1.5 lbs! Yours is a monster! So cool that you got it by accident. I have to make that dish someday.

26 November 2008 at 21:31 grassdirtcorn said...

That looks amazing, and the squash was HUGE! Holy cow! I would love to see a movie of you even trying to cut into that thing! Axe anyone?

27 November 2008 at 01:02 
i've seen many of bloggers post about this, too!! you being one of them haha i need to get my ass in the kitchen and make this. it just looks so darn good. i'm pretty sure i'll just scoop out leftover pumpkin pie and use that haha

27 November 2008 at 04:00 
That looks delicious! I actually just chopped up and peeled a little butternut squash last week... pain in the ass! But a lady on youtube made it look it so easy! I will go back to cutting in half and roasting from now on :)

27 November 2008 at 17:10 
Hey! You're gonna pay it forward! Can you drop me a little email with your postal address? :)

27 November 2008 at 21:32 
That is so cool that you grew a plant from seeds that you casually tossed over the wall. Are you really jack treehugger? Do you have a beanstalk growing up into the sky? beware of giants up there in the clouds.

I wish I could just throw my stuff over a wall. Instead we have to trudge out to the edge of the woods and dump it there. No way will things grow in such a shady area.

29 November 2008 at 01:17 
The Accidental Butternut... sounds like the title of a short story. mmm, it looks deelish.

29 November 2008 at 14:00 
yum..my favorite flavors together in one dish! I threw my pumpkin seeds out near (but not in) my composter today thinking that maybe I would too have a squash/pumpkin plant next year but later saw my squirrels eating them!

2 December 2008 at 04:04 Jen Treehugger
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