Pumpkin Pesto

Sometimes I am reminded, in a slap in the face type of way, that I've gotten too comfortable with something. It's usually not parenting, but last weekend as I was shrugging off my 1-year-old's fall, and helping her back up as I do so often - she's still working on stability, my mother in law noticed that her eye was bleeding. My sweet baby had slit her eyelid open and bashed up her eye, on my watch, while I was casually and nonchalantly responding to her cries. She's normally such a tough little girl. We've had tumbles down stairs, a fall on a bike, and countless other stumbles, all of which produced only a few tears. So I tend not to fret over her bumps and bruises these days. But seeing her eye in such bad shape made me re-think my easy-going attitude. She's totally fine, by the way. I think it's me that's scarred.

I thought it would be fun to make a pumpkin pesto, not a just pumpkin seed pesto - there's a million of those recipes out there, but a pesto sauce made from actual pumpkin with a pumpkin taste. Maybe I was a little too confident. My initial attempts weren't that great. It either didn't have enough pumpkin flavor, or the spices weren't right. But actually, it was a good thing, because I really had to think and just experiment, and that's something I haven't done in a long time. So, this is me, reminding myself not to get so comfortable!

For the pesto:

2 cloves garlic
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons grated/crumbled Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons canned pumpkin (plain, no spices)
3/4 cup pepitas
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/3 fresh sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor add all ingredients minus 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.  Blend until smooth, slowly adding in the reserved oil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Excellent with squash filled raviolis or crackers with goat's cheese!