Penne With Pumpkin Sauce

I also made this recipe because I grew pumpkin (well, actually winter squash) this year and had a bumper crop. The pumpkin puree thickened up the sauce quite nicely, but as written it turned out pretty bland (for my tastes) and needed some doctoring up. I added a lot of salt and pepper and parmesan cheese. It could also be improved with some herbs or red pepper flakes or even Italian sausage. Thanks for the idea to use pumpkin in a pasta sauce.

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I followed this so loosely I'm not sure I should put stars down. I glanced at a bunch of similar recipes, then just worked with what I had, using sight measurements mostly. This is really good! I used frozen chopped onion, no pepper, 1 garlic, bacon grease instead of butter for saute, buttercup squash instead of pumpkin, milk and less broth, and no parmesan for serving. Also, another recipe suggested a tsp of peanut butter, which was great. The funniest thing was when I asked my kids to guess the secret ingredient, and my 4 yr old said, "Cheese!" I think that's what made it look appealing to the kids, the color of Velveeta, lol.

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My husband thought I was crazy when I said we were having pasta with pumpkin sauce for dinner, but this turned out so tasty that he actually requests it! I've found that the onion and bell pepper aren't really necessary to a great-tasting sauce, so I usually leave it out. Otherwise, a perfect recipe!

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This was quite nice...I did end up doctoring it slightly to better suit the tastes of those eating it and also to use what was on hand...I added about twice the amount of onion and red pepper...added green peas and serrano pepper (gave a nice kick and bright color) used the suggested extra pumpkin (about a cup???-maybe???)- (spiced that with cayenne and cinnamon)...no water-all spicy veggie broth instead and threw some parm. ch. into the sauce as it simmered instead of using it as a garnish.......had no parsley (well really it turn a bit limp and yellow :( ) - so used cilantro & served it with whole wheat rottini and roasted butternut squash.....YUMMY!!! :) Have to add that the leftovers were even better...after the flavors had mingled together for a time - Thanks for a nice and different recipe will definitely try again!!!

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Very good! My husband ate this up with no complaint and that was rather surprising given pumpkin is involved. I made this with vegetable broth and milk instead of cream - otherwise as written.

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This recipe is delicious! I've made it a couple of times a couple of different ways. One time I used green pepper instead of red, juice leftover from straining fresh pumpkin in place of the water and broth, coconut milk instead of heavy cream, and cilantro instead of parsley, and it was still amazing! It seems like a very flexible recipe, I'll definitely be making it again.

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My roommates thought I was crazy for doing a pumpkin sauce, but it turned out awesome. I used cream cheese instead of heavy cream and omitted the bell pepper, parsley leaves, and parmesan cheese. A good dinner for the autumn weather.

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This was VERY good! The pumpkin taste was minimal, but I enjoyed that. We didn't have heavy cream, so I substituted equal parts evaporated milk. We also had some leftover ground turkey meat, so I browned it on the side and added it in to the sauce mixture just before adding the pasta. The sauce was a little thin at first, but thickened up (I also added the grated parmesan cheese while the pasta was still on the heat). Served it with rotini and it was a hit! Great use of leftovers, might make again if I have some canned pumpkin laying around. Thanks!!

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I thought this was excellent. It is not an uber-rich sauce by any means, so if that's what you are looking for, look elsewhere, but it succeeds beautifully in being what it is, a light pasta sauce that makes a lovely change from all the rich stuff I usually eat. Also, it reheats brilliantly, without any of the nastiness one gets when reheating really fatty sauces. I used vegetable stock in this, and that was the only change I made. Thanks for this...I will use it a lot when the weather gets hot here this summer!

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I was so hopeful that this would be outstanding ... I really liked the idea of it. As it turns out it was just okay. We all found it a little bland and compensated with way to much parmesan cheese. However, given that so many people just loved it, I would certainly encourage folks to give it a try. I'm glad I did.

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This was very good and felt very light too. I used freshly pureed pumpkin and instead of heavy cream I used milk, which still came out fine I thought. Thanks!

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My husband loved this. It's very good. I modified the garlic to suit our tastes and used about a cup and half of pumpkin. The sauce cooks down nice once it's mixed with the pasta.

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An interesting, different, but good pasta dish. I used home cooked, pureed pumpkin, vegetarian "chicken" broth, and whole wheat penne. I also used 1 tbsp skim milk plus 1 tbsp non fat sour cream in place of the heavy cream. After reading the reviews, I did add a tiny bit of hot pepper sauce. However, I wouldn't say this dish is bland, it just has a different mild flavour that doesn't need to be ultra strong to be tasty. Thanks for the recipe!

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As written, this recipe was definitely too bland for me, but with a few changes, it turned out wonderful. I am not rating this, since I changed it up quite a bit, but after the changes I made, I would definitely give this 5 stars. I would recommend it to anyone as a great starting point. Just add to it, until you get the flavor that you want. I did end up doubling the recipe. I followed the recommendations of other reviewers and subbed olive oil for the butter, and evaporated milk for the cream AND water. I added a very generous amount of grated parmesan cheese (not freshly grated, though) to the sauce and mixed it all together. I added a good amount of freshly ground black pepper, but still found the end result to be missing something. I then stirred in a few splashes of cayenne pepper sauce, which finally did the trick. I didn't add enough to make it very spicy, just a few dashes for flavor. Oh, and I think I added a dash or two of paprika while I was making the sauce. I would definitely make this again, spicing it up as needed.

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We liked it, but it was a little bland for our tastes, even with extra pumpkin in it. I used fresh pumpkin and evaporated milk, like someone else suggested since I didn't have cream.

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this is delicious..even my kids who dont like pumpkin at this and loved it.. thanks for the recipe.. will definitely make over and over.

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Yes, everybody is right, even nonpumpkinlovers love this. So nice, mellow flavors...maybe just a little too mellow for me. But a nice, different recipe.

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One of my favorite fall recipes! Delicious. Thanks for the recipe!

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My husband was very skeptical as I was cooking this...actually checked in the fridge for any back-up meals ...LOL.. but gave it a 9.5 out of 10!!! Only change made was olive oil instead of butter, and evaporated skim milk for the cream and water... and Parmesan is a MUST in our eyes.. thanks for a great dish!!

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