Thanksgiving 2019: 3 Recipes To Spice Up Your Dinner

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and family and friends are getting ready to eat lots of turkey, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie and, above all, give thanks.

To spice up your turkey dinner, Lily Ramirez, cookbook author and food blogger from Recetas Lily, Chef Santiago Gomez, Executive Chef at Cantina La Veinte and Tacology in Miami, and Barilla, shared with Latin Times three delicious, nutritious and easy pasta dishes to add a special twist to this year’s Thanksgiving feast.

Barilla Chickpea Casarecce in a Pumpkin by Lily Ramirez

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 box of Barilla Chickpea Casarecce
• ¼ cup of Barilla Vero Gusto Sauce Tomato & Basil
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 cups of (orange) pumpkin puree
• ¼ cup diced (orange) pumpkin, diced
• 1 and ½ cup of coconut milk
• ½ cup of Parmesan cheese
• ¼ teaspoon of pink salt
• ¼ teaspoon of black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon of ginger powder
• 5 basil leaves (to serve)
• 2 green pumpkins (to serve and garnish)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the top of the green pumpkins for decoration, extract the pulp and wash the seeds. Place the green pumpkin, orange pumpkin and pumpkin seeds on a baking pan. Bake the orange pumpkin for 25 minutes until soft, seeds for 14 minutes until golden and the green pumpkin for 20 minutes until it’s cooked but not too soft (should be firm but edible). Wait for the orange pumpkin to cool.

Set aside one-fourth of orange pumpkin and cut into squares. For the puree, add the remaining pumpkin to a blender or food processor. Blend with a little bit of water. Set aside the green pumpkin and pumpkin seeds to decorate.

For the sauce:

Chop the garlic into very small pieces. In a large pot, heat butter over medium heat with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add the garlic and sauté until soft. Add the pumpkin puree and coconut milk. Stir over medium heat. Add salt, pepper, ginger, and nutmeg. Mix well. Add Barilla Vero Gusto Sauce Tomato & Basil. Add Parmesan cheese and continue stirring over low heat. When you get the desired creaminess, add the pumpkin squares (if you want the sauce to be more uniform, blend in a food processor or blender again).

For the pasta:

Bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt to taste. Add pasta to boiling water – for authentic “al dente” pasta boil for 11 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain well. In a large pan, combine the pasta with the sauce over low heat. Mix well to combine the flavors. If you want the pasta to be less creamy, add some pasta water. Place the pasta inside the pumpkin. Garnish with Parmesan cheese, basil and pumpkin seeds.

Serve immediately or bake for 2 minutes to achieve a gratin. Enjoy it during Thanksgiving!

Barilla Collezione Spaghetti with Turkey by Chef Santiago Gomez

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 1 box of Barilla Collezione Spaghetti
• 1 cup of Vero Gusto Tomato & Basil sauce
• 1 cup of ground turkey
• Oil
• 1 sweet plantain
• 2 tablespoons of onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of garlic, chopped
• Fresh basil leaves
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions

Bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt to taste. Add pasta to boiling water – for authentic “al dente” pasta boil for 11 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain well. Set pasta aside. Peel and cut sweet plantains into diagonal slices (about ¼ inch thick). Add oil to a pan and heat. Cook the sweet plantains until golden brown. Set sweet plantains aside.

In the same pan with the oil, add the white onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the turkey, is tender. Add the Vero Gusto Tomato & Basil sauce and cook for 5 minutes. Mix in pasta.

Top with the sweet plantains. Garnish with fresh basil leaves. Serve and enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!

Green Barilla Campanelle by Chef Santiago Gomez

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1 box of Barilla Campanelle
• 1 cup of Barilla Pesto sauce
• 2 tablespoons of pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons of raisins
• ¼ cup of sliced green olives
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Olive oil
• 3 tablespoons of goat cheese

Directions

Bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt to taste. Add pasta to boiling water – for authentic “al dente” pasta boil for 11 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain well. Set pasta aside. Add oil to a pan and heat. Add the Barilla pesto sauce and cook for about 5 minutes over medium-low heat. Mix in the pasta and stir. Add the pine nuts, raisins, green olives, and salt and pepper. Mix together.

Top with goat cheese. Serve and enjoy!