Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

Kaarin's Note:

A delicious recipe for pumpkin that's not a dessert! I usually make my own pumpkin puree in the blender with a little water. This dish is mild and warming; my kids like it because it looks like mac and cheese!

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 small onion , finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 cups chicken broth , made from bouillon
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley , minced
• ¼ cup romano cheese , shredded
• 1 lb penne or 1 lb rotini pasta

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, saute the onion and garlic in butter, over medium heat, until soft, not brown.
2. Whisk in the pumpkin, broth, creams and seasonings to taste.
3. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until al dente.
5. Drain pasta and stir into pumpkin, simmering 2-3 minutes more until thick.
6. Stir in parsley and garnish with romano, more parsley and pumpkin seeds if desired.

Reviews

[SarasotaCook]

4-5 stars. I did really like the pumpkin, but if anyone knows my cooking, they know I love spice and herbs. So, without the additional seasoning ... I did find it a bit bland. But the overall flavor was very nice.

Here are my changes. Since it was a main dish I did add sausage. I was at my local meat market and they had sage and garlic turkey sausage ... HOW perfect! But a mild Italian sausage would work too.

I also added a medium onion, fresh chopped sage and a few red pepper flakes.

I love romano for a bit of tang which was nice and I also added a bit of the pasta water. And for the pasta; I used penne rigate with the ribs. I find it holds the sauce better than plain penne.

Lots of pepper for me and it was very tasty. All the flavor was there, I just needed a bit more seasoning, but that is just my taste. It was good as is, I just wanted a bit more.

The sausage as others mentioned was a very nice addition. I love turkey or chicken best for a dish like this. I did cut in half moons and browned first.

Very nice dish. Thx

[Greeny4444]

It was a nice change for me to make something with pumpkin in it that wasn't sweet. My husband liked it, and I thought it was ok. I didn't have a few of the ingredients, so here's what I did: I used 1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth and 1/4 c. white wine. Instead of the heavy cream, I used 1 (5 oz.) can of evaporated milk, and I omitted the sour cream altogether. For the spices, I used 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ground sage, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 1 tsp. red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp. - 1/2 tsp. *each* pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, and 2 tsp. dried parsley flakes. I thought this could've used something else, like chicken or chicken sausage, but I didn't have any and my peeps were hungry, so I added 8 oz. largely sliced crimini mushrooms with the onions and garlic (but I would add double that if I added them again - they got lost in all this pasta!), I topped this with shredded parmesan and served with a green salad and Irish Rosie's Irish Soda Bread (one of my favorite breads). I'm glad I tried this recipe though, thanks!

[Anemone]

Surprisingly good! After reading some of the reviews, I did up the spices, and made it far too spicy for our family: spices are always a personal taste, I suppose.
I did substitute evaporated milk for the creams, and threw the onions, garlic and pumpkin altogether to cook (I'm impatient) instead of sauteing them. I will try with white wine for a special treat one day.