Recipes: Fall-Friendly Dishes

It’s officially fall! Though us Arizonans aren’t quite ready to dust off the scarves and sweaters just yet, we know that the Valley’s most lovely weather of the year is right around the corner. To get in the autumn mindset, here are some tasty fall-friendly recipes (from a warming pasta dish to refreshing cocktails) to test out this season.

Pumpkin Mascarpone Ravioli with Brown Butter, Sage, Raisins, Pine Nuts and Pecorino
From Chef Gio Osso of Scottsdale’s Estate House
1 small pumpkin
½ cup of mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ cup of honey
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
½ cup of white wine
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh pasta sheets
(For the sauce)
1 stick of butter
¼ cup of pine nuts
¼ cup of raisins
1 sprig of sage leaves
¼ cup pecorino cheese, shaved
Split the pumpkin in half removing the seeds. In a baking dish with a rack in it, place the pumpkin on the rack. Pour the honey and wine over the pumpkin and season with the dry ingredients. Place in a 325 degree oven until pumpkin becomes fork tender. Remove from oven and let cool. Once pumpkin is cool, scoop out the flesh and put in a bowl. Add mascarpone cheese and mix thoroughly adjusting the seasoning with salt and pepper. Fill your pasta sheets with the pumpkin mixture and make into ravioli. These ravioli can be frozen for later use. For the sauce, brown the butter in a sauté pan and add the nuts, raisins and sage. While making the sauce, cook the ravioli in heavily salted water until they float. Strain ravioli and place in the sauce for the last 2-4 minutes of cooking to combine the flavors. Serve ravioli with the shaved pecorino cheese on top.

Caramel Apple Martini
1-1/2 oz Apple juice
1-1/2 oz Van Gogh Wild Appel Vodka
1/2 oz Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka
1/2 oz Apple Schnapps
Glaze the inside of a chilled martini glass with caramel syrup and place glass in the refrigerator until ready to use. Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into chilled glass glazed with caramel syrup. Float a thinly sliced apple round (seeds removed) on top.

Spiced Caramel Apple
From Kara Newman, author of Spice & Ice
2 oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
1 oz Van Gogh Dutch Caramel vodka
2-1/2 oz Apple cider
1 Dash lemon juice
Add liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into martini glass. Optional touch: rim the glass with agave syrup and crumbled gingersnap cookies.