Pumpkin Lasagne, Pinot Noir, & Banana Cream Pie

I can’t think of any better way to work on my food blog than to have Jacques Pepin and Julia Child on dvd in the background - and I’m sipping on a fun Carmenere from Chile.  I’ve never been much of a Carmenere fan, but this one doesn’t have that excessive green bell pepper that happens sometimes (which I don’t like, because it masks the fruit and earthiness).  This one has some pepper but plenty of fruit, and I’m enjoying it.

Anyway, I made something awesome last week - well, two awesome things, but one was from a popular recipe, and the other I hatched from my own imagination.

For dinner, I created a pumpkin lasagne.  And if it sounds delicious, it is.  I boiled 12 pieces of lasagne and laid them out on wax paper.  In the Emile Henry baking dish, I built the lasagne.  In a bowl, I mixed pure pumpkin puree with a pinch each of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and ginger.  In another bowl, I mixed ricotta with finely chopped sage and walnuts.  (Ricotta isn’t the only cheese I used - I also used grated parmigiano reggiano, crumbled fresh goat cheese, and small pieces of fontina - how is it that whenever I start creating a dish like this, I end up with four completely different cheeses?)  And finally, I sauteed some chopped crimini mushrooms seasoned with black pepper.  Now it’s time to build the lasagne.  I placed four lasagne pieces, slightly overlapped, at the bottom of the pan.  I then spread 1/3 of the pumpkin over it, topped it with dollops of ricotta, and added goat cheese, fontina, and mushrooms (each I used 1/2 of what I had).  Then I laid another four pieces of lasagne, and again topped with more pumpkin, plus the remainder of the cheeses and mushroom, and then topped with the last four pieces of lasagne, the remainder of the pumpkin, and then sprinkled with the parmigiano reggiano.  Into the oven at 350F for about 40 minutes or until the top is crisp and golden, and the sides are bubbling.  It’s so good (and I was even a little surprised at how good it was, considering there was no recipe).

With it, the pairing was a Pinot Noir from Switzerland, which was excellent and a really good pairing.  I love Pinot Noir, especially the bright, clean feel that cuts through some rich ingredients, and this one also had some complexity heading toward the finish, with dark fruit showing through, followed by mineral, and just delicious overall, especially with the dinner.

One of my favorite pies is banana cream pie, and ever since I was a kid, I wanted to make my own, so I have no idea why I never attempted it until now.  Anyway, I used my sister’s pie crust recipe, except I added about 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, and that gave it another dimension in terms of flavor.  The pie filling consisted of 4 bananas plus a homemade sort of pudding made from scratch which was quite simple, and then baking it and chilling it, and making fresh homemade whipped cream to top the pie.  It was everything I remembered from when I was a child, only better somehow.

That was a fantastic dinner.  Lots of calories, yes, but completely worth it!