The Wonderful Pumpkin Patch that led us to Pumpkin Penne Pasta

Every year I look so forward to going to Jerry Smith Pumpkin Farm. We walk through all the displays as we snap shots of each other in the scenes, feed the goats, pick out a perfectly wonderful pumpkin, and get some of their amazing sugar cookies on the way out! This time I decided to get a pumpkin I could cook with, a sugar pie pumpkin. I had yet to bake one myself. I've always used canned pumpkin. Until now. An adventure is about to begin..

I brought the dirty pumpkin home, scrubbed it and whipped out a recipe from Rachel Ray that I've been wanting to make for too long. It's called Penny-Wise Pumpkin Pasta. The name comes from it's low budget ingredients, supposedly. The recipe called for a 15-oz can pure pumpkin puree, so I had to figure out first how to roast this thing. I googled and found super easy and effective instructions, here. 

This is how my pumpkin turned out!  

Now time to make this pasta!

Penny-Wise Pumpkin Pasta

Salt

1 lb. whole wheat penne rigate

2 T. EVOO (I used coconut oil)

3 shallots, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped

2 C. vegetable broth

1 15-oz. can pure pumpkin puree or roasted pumpkin*

1/2 C. heavy cream (I used soy milk)

1 t. hot pepper sauce (like tabasco)

2 pinches ground cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg

pepper

7 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced

Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese or vegan cheese (I used nutritional yeast)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.

*If using roasted pumpkin, you can puree it in a food processor or what I did was mash it with a potato masher to leave some chunks (I like lots of texture)

While the pasta is working, in a medium skillet, heat the oil, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, pumpkin and cream/soy. Add the hot sauce, cinnamon and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sage.

Toss the pasta with the sauce and pass the "cheese" around the table. 

This pasta was delicious. I think it could easily be tweaked and altered if needed. I actually used yellow onion instead of shallots. It was easy to make. So, thoughts on roasting the pumpkin? Well it was easier than I thought but didn't have a huge amount of more flavor than canned. But I loved the texture it gave. I would do it again though. I served this pasta with homemade garlic bread. You can find the recipe here. This time I used vegan margarine instead of oil and cooked chopped sun-dried tomatoes with the garlic. It was a very yummy change. 

I can't wait to watch the movie Arsenic and Old Lace! Been so in the mood! What are you doing this fall?

Chef Teebs