And Everything Nice

I've been in love with sage ever since my sisters and I hosted Thanksgiving two years ago. I remember staying up late with Becky the night before, peeling potatoes and yams over the garbage can. We were listening to Spice Girls pandora and screaming singing our favorite songs from middle school while we prepped the gourmet dishes that would be on the menu the next day. The following afternoon we poured browned butter that had been infused with fresh sage into the yukon gold and sweet potato mixture and whipped it together into the tastiest dish of all time. With that in mind, and in an effort to cook seasonally, I decided to buy pumpkin puree this week and adapted (another) Rachael Ray recipe to create this  pumpkin sage pasta sauce:

I added sauteed mushrooms to the leftovers!

Ingredients

Olive Oil
1 lb. ground veal
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
6 sprigs of sage, cut into strips
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup almond milk
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
salt and pepper




I started by sauteeing the veal in just a little olive oil until it was mostly cooked. I transferred it from the pan to a plate, and poured the excess fat down the drain. I added a tbsp. or so of olive oil to the pan and began cooking the garlic and onion until they were tender, then added the wine, bay leaf and sage. I let the sauce simmer until it had reduced a little before adding the chicken stock, pumpkin, and veal. I stirred the sauce ferociously until it was well-blended, then added the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for 5 minutes. I served this over whole wheat penne, and froze 2 other servings of the sauce. It was yummy, but not as flavorful as I expected... I think partly because I used veal instead of the sweet Italian sausage that Rachael recommended--I was trying to be fancy, plus I kind of hate sweet Italian sausage. Next time I'll try hot Italian sausage, which I think will add the necessary richness and flavor that I'm looking for. The whole heavy cream component would probably help with that too, but let's be honest, creamy pasta is probably the most problematic food category for me on the planet. Need I remind you of my stay in the bathroom at the Olive Garden in Binghamton circa summer 2008?