Pumpkin Ice Cream Torte

This was my first attempt at making a fancy dessert for the holidays. I usually make some sort of cheese cake, which are always my favorite, but this year I decided to go a different route and everyone appreciated the deviation. This dessert is not difficult to make but demands patients and time. It can and needs to be made ahead, which is nice for the busy holiday season.

I made some minor adjustments to the original recipe found in Cook.ing Li.ght because the pumpkin ice cream was too pumpkiny for my taste. I am posting the directions as I made it.

Pumpkin Ice Cream Torte

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup ginger snap cookie crumbs
2 TBS brown sugar
2 TBS finely chopped pecans
4 TBS butter, melted
3/4 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
9 cups vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 cup reduced fat Coolwhip
jarred caramel topping

1. Preheat oven 350
2. Combine first 5 ingredients (mixture will be crumbly). Firmly press crumb mixture into bottom of a 9 - inch springform pan lightly coated with oil or cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
3. Combine pumpkin and the next 4 ingredients (through cloves) in a bowl. Soften 7 cups ice cream, add to pumpkin mixture, stirring to blend. Spoon half mixture into prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap, freeze 1 hour until firm (this took alot longer because I softened the ice cream too much). Refreeze remaining pumpkin icecream.
4. Soften remaining 3 cups vanilla ice cream. Spread over pumpkin ice cream layer in pan. Cover then freeze 1 hour until firm.
5. Soften remaining pumpkin ice cream ADDING 1 1/2 cups Coolwhip. Spread over vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze 8 hours until firm.

Let sit out 10 minutes or so before serving. Heat jarred caramel topping and drizzle over the top of each slice before serving. YUMMY!!!!!

Pesto Penne

This is super easy AND super yummy. I had most of the ingredients in my pantry already, so it may also be fairly cheap to make or a dish to throw together in a pinch. The flavors are awesome and if you don't have the exact ingredients, easy to modify. We had this for dinner served warm and as lunch leftovers the next day served cold. Delicious either way.

Pesto Penne
1 medium red bell pepper
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced or chopped
1/3 cup jared pesto (Melissa brand is great)
1/3 cup oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, chopped (Melissa brand is great!)
1 (6oz) jar marinated quartered artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
12 oz penne pasta
1/2 cup cubed smoked mozzarella or smoked provolone
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Pre-heat broiler.
2. Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise, discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper haves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Flatten with hand. Broil 5 - 8 minutes until blackened. Place in brown paper bag or zip-lock, seal. Let stand 5 minutes, then peel the skin off. Chop pepper, place in a medium bowl.
3. Add olives, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes to the pepper in bowl. Stir to combine.
4. Cook pasta and drain.
5. Add the pesto mix to drained pasta and add cheese and nuts.

YUMMY!!!!!