Foodie Fridays: Pumpkin Lasagna

I finally have a new recipe to share, and it is incredibly delicious!  Before my dog Ruby got sick with pancreatitis, I always put canned pumpkin in her food at every meal.  Pancreatitis causes a marked loss of appetite, so I stopped adding the pumpkin in her food to make it more tempting for her.  As a result, I had eight cans of pumpkin purée just languishing in the pantry!  I have been looking for recipes that call for canned pumpkin but are not for baked goods.  I have already made pumpkin soup, but the recipe I found for Pumpkin Lasagna is so much tastier than mere soup.  The only change I made was to add some turkey sausage crumbles which I happened to have left over.  This is totally optional, but I think it really enhances the flavor as the sausage seasonings complement the pumpkin sauce so well.  If you too have an excess of canned pumpkin in your pantry (or even if you don't), you should give this recipe a try!

Pumpkin Lasagna

1 T. olive oil
1/2 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 C. Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles (optional)
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin purée
1/2 cup half 'n half
1 tsp. dried sage
1/4 tsp. salt
9 no-cook lasagna noodles
1 C. reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1 C. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 C. shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  Sauté the mushrooms and onion until tender.  Add the sausage and heat through; set aside.  In a small bowl, combine the pumpkin, cream, sage, and salt.

Spread 1/2 C. pumpkin sauce in a greased 11x7-inch baking dish.  Top with 3 noodles.  Spread 1/2 C. pumpkin sauce to edges of noodles.  Top with half of mushroom mixture, 1/2 cup ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Repeat layers.  Top with remaining noodles and sauce.  Cover with foil.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.  Uncover and top with remaining Parmesan cheese.  Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.  Serves 6.

Note: Cover unbaked lasagna to freeze. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake as directed, increasing time as necessary to heat through and for a thermometer inserted in center to read 165°.

On the Homefront: Nick (2000-2022)

Sad news on the homefront today - my wonderful horse Nick passed away very early yesterday morning.  He began colicking on Tuesday and I had the vet out, but Nick was still not well by the next morning so he was taken to the vet hospital.  They treated him and monitored him closely, but he took a turn for the worse late Wednesday night.  He was rushed into emergency surgery but he did not survive.  I will post a better memorial to Nick in a few days, but I am still a bit stunned by his sudden passing as he had been doing quite well with no obvious signs of poor health.  I will miss my beloved boy so much.

Terrifying Tuesdays: Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights

It has been quite a while since I have done a Terrifying Tuesday post, but I am one of those people who loves that old tradition of telling ghost stories around a roaring fire during the winter holiday season, and the book I am currently reading is perfect for evoking a supernatural chill on a long December evening.  Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights is an anthology edited by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk for the British Library Tales of the Weird series.  This collection features twelve stories set during the shortest days of the year, written by authors both well-known and obscure and originally published from 1893 to 1974.  Some are gentle tales while others are sinister, but each one sets just the right tone for a satisfying ghost story during this cold and dark time of the year.  If you too love a good ghost story I highly recommend checking out this book as well as others in the series - I think you will find them quite enjoyable in a spooky sort of way!

Current Events: Weird and Wonderful Wildlife

Image from Intrepid Travel

Today is World Wildlife Conservation Day, and a good day to bring attention to some interesting wildlife discoveries in the news recently.  Let's start with the weird, shall we?  Scientists have found that wolves in Yellowstone National Park who are infected with Toxmoplasma gondii, a parasite commonly found in cats which causes toxoplasmosis, tends to make them engage in riskier behavior.  They are 11 times more likely to leave the safety of their pack and strike off on their own, and 46 time more likely to become a pack leader!  Apparently the parasite enters the wolf host's brain and causes the behavior changes.  Since cats are the only hosts in which these parasites can complete their life cycle (all other species are essentially dead-end hosts where the parasites can survive but cannot reproduce) it is thought that this riskier behavior by their hosts may make them more likely to cross paths with feline species which can then possibly ingest the adult parasite, allowing them to complete their life cycle.  It is known that rodents infected with T. gondii seem to lose their fear of cats, making them easy prey for cats.  Even humans with toxoplasmosis can show behavioral changes (not to mention the fact that toxoplasmosis can on rare occasions lead to serious injury or even death).

Image from BBC

Also reported in the news recently is the wonderful rediscovery of a bird thought to be extinct for 140 years!  The Black-naped Pheasant-pigeon (Otidiphaps insularis), previously documented by scientists only once in 1882, was recently photographed by another team of scientists on the rugged island of Fergusson in Papua New Guinea.  This large, ground-dwelling pigeon lives in the rugged and almost inaccessible forests on the island which could be its last stronghold.  It is hoped that this new information will help in the preservation of the species, which is still considered to be extremely rare and endangered.  Take a look at the video recorded by the research team below:

 

These two stories are proof that we still have a lot to learn about the wildlife with whom we share this planet.  The information we gain from studying these species is invaluable for understanding the planet on which we all live as well as how environmental variables may affect us.  We would do well to protect our fellow species, as in doing so we may just be protecting ourselves.