Double pumpkin pasta
We bought you double-crumbed chicken, now we’re bringing you double-trouble pumpkin pasta! There’s nothing tricksy about this recipe; a smooth pumpkin sauce coats the pasta, with golden roasty bits of pumpkin for scattering over the top before you serve. Or to toss through the whole thing if you like a more integrated approach. You don’t have to do the double-pumpkin manoeuvre (just leave the roasting step out and go with 750g pumpkin) but it’s a nice touch that adds extra interest to this vego dish and anyway. How good is well-roasted pumpkin? (And ‘vegetarian’ isn’t terminology we tend to chuck around much BTW. It’s all ‘food’ to us, whether a dish involves critter flesh, fish parts or plant-based bits. As long as it tastes delish, which this pasta does, we’re kind of No Labels).
Now, if you wanted to slip a bit of pig into this, you could brown off some bacon at some point and toss it through, or chuck in torn strips of prosciutto right before you serve. Instead of the oregano, add a sprig of rosemary to the pumpkin in the pan as it sweats (don’t forget to fish it out at the end unless you’re fond of choking hazards), or you could finish the dish with sage leaves sizzled in butter until the butter turns brown and smells nutty, drizzling it over the pasta before serving. Fully assembled and shoved into a 180˚C oven, this dish tastes great baked until the cheese goes golden and any exposed pasta turns crunchy – in this scenario, feel free to throw some grated mozzarella on the top with the parmesan for that double cheese whammy. (We’re really into double!). And undercook your pasta by 3-4 minutes too or it will turn flaccid as it bakes. No one ever likes flaccid anything.
We’re huge believers in sweating off vegetables until they’re fully cooked and falling apart before adding any stock to them as we do here, FYI. We start all our veggie-based soups this way as well. Our belief is that the flavours of the veg sweeten, deepen and concentrate more this way than they do if you just hurl in stock from the start and boil everything madly. The finished taste is much richer and overall better-er, according to us, and we don’t have any scientific evidence for this. But the yum receptors on our tongues tell us it’s true and that’s enough for us. Give the technique a whirl and see. Make sure you choose a decent pumpkin for this dish and we do realise this can be a lottery. They don’t exactly smell ripe. But pumpkin with bright orange, dense flesh that feels a bit heavy for its size is what you’re aiming for, defo not pale, stringy ‘wet’ pumpkin that tastes one removed from zucchini. Not that there’s a thing wrong with zucchini but we don’t want our pumpkin to taste like it.
SERVES 4
1 kg pumpkin, peeled and seeded
60ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
250ml (1 cup) vegetable or chicken stock
60g (¼ cup) drained, finely sliced semi-dried tomatoes, or to taste
large pinch freshly ground nutmeg
60g (¼ cup) mascarpone or pouring cream (optional)
350g-400g dried tubular pasta
finely grated parmesan and fresh oregano leaves, to serve
Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
Chop 750g of the pumpkin into small pieces. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil and the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, then cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the chopped pumpkin, stir to combine, then cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the pumpkin is very tender and falling apart. Add the stock, bring to a simmer, then using a stick blender, process until the mixture is smooth. (Alternatively, use a blender or food processor, then return the mixture to the pan). Stir in the semi-dried tomato and nutmeg, season to taste with salt and pepper, then keep warm.
Meanwhile, cut the remaining pumpkin into 1cm pieces. Place in a baking dish, drizzle with the remaining olive oil, then roast for 25 mins or until golden. While the pumpkin is roasting, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta for 13 minutes or according to packet directions until al dente. Drain, then add to the pumpkin sauce with the mascarpone, if using, and toss to coat well. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls, then scatter with the roasted pumpkin, grated parmesan and oregano leaves to taste. Serve immediately.