Magical Harvest Dinner: Date Night Edition

There is something so magical about fall. The leaves are changing. The world is starting to slow down. The daylight slowly shrinks back as the darkness of night takes center stage. As the air becomes crisp, the Earth becomes bountiful with her grounding delicacies - squash, pumpkin, classic root vegetables; the harvest explodes to life in a symphony of cinnamon and nutmeg and allspice. Little chubby cheeks run wild in pumpkin fields as horses prance by with their hay-filled carts. The veil lifts. And we experience a deeper connection to the spirits and ancestors that have walked before us, and have paved the trail for us to explore the world as it is today. We become more aware and more connected to the spooky season, the mystical, the darker energies. This is truly a wonderful and mysterious time of year that beckons us to venture inward and focus on grounding and connecting in deeper ways than the energetic, airy, warmth of summer. One of the ways we can begin to ground our energy as we transition into winter is through grounding foods.

Wandering through the stands of the farmers market, you find all the root vegetables poised and ready to become additions to stews and soups and casseroles. Apples of all flavors and varieties waiting to line pie pans and garnish cocktails and fill the air of the home with the delightful aromas of fall.

Inspired by the farmers market and a desire to bring all of the fall flavors into the kitchen for a romantic harvest-inspired dinner, I crafted a delightful menu:

~ Bourbon Spiced Cider

~ Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

~ Baked Harvest Pasta

~ Apple Puff Bites 

…bringing the flavors of pumpkin, apple, and butternut squash to the dinner table creating a cozy harvest dinner for two. 

Bourbon Spiced Cider:

10-12 Apples, quartered (I used granny smith and gala)

2 Cara Cara Oranges, quartered

4 Cinnamon Sticks

1T Whole Cloves

1-inch chunk of fresh ginger + a handful of candied ginger

Date Syrup, to taste

Combine apples, oranges, spices, ginger in a stock pot (or slow cooker) and cover with water, leaving about an inch and a half of room at the top of the pot. Heat on high to bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 2 hours. Mash the apples and oranges to release their flavor and simmer for another hour. Strain. Sweeten with date syrup to taste (start with 1t). Refrigerate up to 5 days. 

Tip: don’t lift the lid on the pot at all as it’s cooking, the water evaporates very quickly. If you lose a bunch of water during the simmering process and don’t end up with much cider, strain what is left in the pot and set aside. Add more water to cover the apples and simmer for another hour and mix the two batches together. 

Once you’re ready to enjoy your cider, warm on the stove over low-med heat and use a 1:4 ratio: add a cup (8oz) of bourbon for every 32oz of cider. 

*FYI: Recycling glass jars and bottles is always a vibe, this apple juice bottle was perfect for our cider!*

Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds:

If you’re preparing the seeds directly out of the pumpkin, be sure to thoroughly remove all strands from the seeds and rinse them. Spread them out in a thin layer to dry for about an hour before roasting. 

To roast the seeds: toss 1 c pumpkin seeds in olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Roast at 325o for up to 25 minutes. Keeping an eye on them, stirring every 10 minutes, remove once the seeds are slightly browned and have a lightly toasted fragrance. 

5T Sugar in the Raw

¼ t Cumin

¾ t Pumpkin Pie Spice

⅛ t Cayenne

Combine 3T sugar and the spices in a bowl. Heat 1:3 ratio of harissa olive oil to regular olive oil (or just use regular olive oil) in a pan. Add in pumpkin seeds and 2T sugar stirring consistently until the seeds are slightly caramelized. Toss in the spice mixture. Let cool. Store in a container up to one week. 

Baked Harvest Pasta: 

1 Butternut Squash, peeled/seeded/cubed

2-4 Garlic Cloves, smashed

1T Fresh Sage, chopped

1c Milk

1c Chiave D’Oro (a hard cows milk cheese, can also use gouda)

2T Butter, salted

2-3 inches of a Mozzarella log

1 ½ c Dry Pasta

4-5 Slices of Proscuitto

Bake: 425o. Toss Butternut Squash, garlic, sage, salt + pepper in olive oil and bake for 15 minutes. Toss. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until squash is tender. I did this step earlier in the day so I could have this step completed before I began making dinner. 

Cook pasta until Al Dente. I used the fall butternut squash zucchette from Trader Joe's (in the shape of mini pumpkins - so cute!) but you can also use regular rigatoni pasta. Follow directions on the package. Set some of the pasta water aside before you strain. 

Blend squash, milk, chiave cheese, and butter. Add in pasta water to thin. Arrange pasta standing upright in an oiled baking dish and fill the pasta with the squash sauce. Use all of the sauce - it should be very saucy! Lay fresh mozzarella chunks on the top. Sprinkle with Herbs de Provence. Bake 25-30 minutes. While the pasta is baking, lay prosciutto on a baking sheet and crisp for about 10 minutes. Once the top of the pasta is browned and bubbling, sprinkle with crispy prosciutto. 

Apple Puff Bites: 

1 sheet Puff Pastry

2 Gala Apples, cubed

2t Date Syrup

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Coconut Yogurt

Quince Paste (or tart apple sauce)

Chocolate Square

Bake: 355o. Cut out circles of puff pastry with a glass jar. Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice and bake for 20 minutes. I did this step while we ate so the puff pastry was baking while we were enjoying dinner. But, you could easily make these ahead of time if you wanted the desserts ready to go as soon as dinner was done. They don’t need to be warm, they are perfectly delicious room temp and assembly only takes a few minutes. 

Cook the apples in 3 oz water with date syrup and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice on low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the apples are just softened (I like the apples to hold their shape and have a bit of texture). 

Layer the puff pastry: a dollop of coconut yogurt, a dollop of quince paste, and the desired amount of cooked apples. I used a delicious square of rose and ginger chocolate and a zester to grate the chocolate over the bites as a garnish. You can use whatever chocolate you love or you can garnish with cacao nibs.

To Note: this magical harvest night takes a bit of advance preparation. It takes several hours to make the apple cider and pumpkin seeds (if using fresh seeds from the pumpkin) so plan accordingly. I made the cider and pumpkin seeds the day before and roasted the squash at lunchtime so that once it was time to cook dinner, we’d have snacks and drinks to enjoy and I wouldn’t feel rushed or stressed. But do what feels best to you! The goal is to enjoy the experience and to feel connected to the art of cooking, so whatever that looks like for you - just have fun!

Voila 💋