Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Carmelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping

Behold pumpkin ziti, roasted acorn squash, and my mug, which is actually empty, but co-ordinates nicely with my dinner plate.

The best part of this casserole is the cashew ricotta. It's even better than the dairy stuff. I believe it would be great on bagels.

My one concern with this meal is the fat content: there's 1/2 cup cashews in the ricotta and 1/3 cup of walnuts in the breadcrumb topping. That's - dare I say? - kind of nuts!

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Mark Bittman proved to be a valuable resource once again. Apparently for seeds it's best to toast, not roast.

Add a glug* of oil, a dash of salt, a pinch of seasoning and slowly toast in a cast iron pan. According to Bittman, you'll know they're done when they're browned and/or start to pop.**

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* Unfortunately, my glug was more of a chug. Oops. But to directly quote Bittman: "Naturally, oil roasting adds fat and calories, but it also adds great flavor."

** I consider the sentence "pumpkin seeds will puff up slightly, and may pop a bit" to be insufficient warning for what actually ensued.