Can't believe it's vegan pumpkin ravioli with spinach & hazelnut pesto!

I admit, I've ben bitten by the vegan bug, but I'm not sure I want to make it a permanent thing. I'm having fun with the creativity aspect, however. I really enjoy thinking about a meal or item we want to have and figure out how/if it can be made animal free. Granted I'm already a vegetarian, but to eliminate dairy and eggs and all that makes me happy from an ethical standpoint. It definitely has zero to do with health, teehee. I'm happy to report I finally bought the vegan butter I kept eyeing at Whole Foods. It tastes exactly like margarine, so I'm nothing short of thrilled.

Anyways, it's Autumn! So of course festive food is on our to-cook list. My husband and I are obsessed with autumn and winter time; we did get married at Christmas after all. We are in full gear as we ::gasp:: put up all our Christmas decor last night. Trees included!! I'm sitting here blogging with our living room tree lit and Roseanne in the background, after I just finished 2.5 items of my school to-do list. I'm feeling good!

Last night, Hubby and I were making our usual "what do have for dinner" decision and chose to target the pumpkin filling in the pantry. So, naturally, a filled pasta came to mind. We toyed with a tomato sauce but didn't want it to clash with the pumpkin flavor in the ravioli. Since we were such big fans of Ken's pesto from the other week, he suggested a variation with spinach and one of our favorite, yet expensive ingredients: hazelnuts. It was a treat for us because we could eat them in any way, shape, and form, but when you're on a budget like we are, they're not normally on our list. We made an exception since we knew of other ways we could utilize them.

So the pasta was a basic dough, which came together better than most doughs I've made before! With no eggs, I was wondering how it would turn out. It was only 100% white whole wheat flour, water, salt, and a little bit of olive oil. I kneaded it for 10 minutes, so my arms got a work out! The filling was canned pumpkin cooked on the stove with a tablespoon of vegan butter. Then we added some herbs and spices like sage, thyme, salt, and pepper.

The sauce consisted of spinach, olive oil, toasted hazelnuts, and spices. Simple much?

Oh, it's important to know we love brussels sprouts. I think I've mentioned it before, but it should be said again. Yummy balls of cabbage-y goodness. So…we bought some on the stalk at Trader Joe's (so much fun!) and roasted them in the oven with some carrots. We mixed them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and a dash of paprika. As usual, after about 30 minutes in the oven at 375 degrees, we were ready to eat!

I was really happy with everything. Well, to be honest, the ravioli dough is always too thin or too thick even when I use my pasta machine to roll it out. I know the pros say it should be paper thin, but they nearly always break and filling leaks out. Besides that, I gotta say this turned out to be a vega-licious dinner! 100% animal free!!

Sorry there aren't many pictures. Pasta is a laborious, flour-filled production. Camera clicking was not available during the process!

For the pasta: Fresh vegan pasta!