Thursday, May 7, 2009

Experimentation




Chris works a lot of nights, so it's not unusual for me to end up on my own for dinner a couple times a week. Though cooking for one can be a wee bit lonely sometimes, it does give me a chance to experiment and try out new recipe ideas. 

The other night, I added pumpkin ravioli with pumpkin curry sauce to my list of weird-but-good. 

I'd bought a can of pumpkin earlier in the day because I'd had a craving for pumpkin oatmeal (you just mix a half-cup of pumpkin in with the water and oats then cook and add cinnamon—amazing) and figured I should use some of the extra pumpkin. I also happened to be in the mood for curry but didn't feel like having rice or potatoes or tofu or any of the usual curry accoutrements. 

And then I remembered the pumpkin ravioli in the freezer...

It was just crazy enough to work—masaman curry paste with a little light coconut milk, sauteed onion, and pureed pumpkin all cooked together with some steamed broccoli. I poured the sauce over the cooked ravioli and added a little grated parmesan. 

I'd been worried the curry would overpower the vaguely sweet mellowness of the ravioli, but they actually blended pretty nicely. The one thing I'd change would be the broccoli—squash would probably work a little better. Still, I'd make this again if I happened to have all those ingredients just lying around.

Note to self: Must get better at taking food photos. I definitely don't do that dish justice there...

What kinds of things do you like to make when you're just playing around or testing new stuff? 

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