Description
A creamy, comforting pumpkin pasta sauce made without cream, featuring roasted pumpkin and garlic, infused with sage and a hint of red pepper flakes, perfect for a cozy fall dinner.
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta
- 13oz / 360g pasta
Pumpkin Sauce
- 2.2lb / 1kg pumpkin
- 2 whole heads of garlic
- 2-3 tablespoon olive oil
- Handful sage leaves
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)
- 3oz / 80g parmesan cheese
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C to prepare for roasting the pumpkin and garlic.
- Prepare Vegetables: Chop the pumpkin into pieces and peel off the skin. Place pumpkin pieces in a baking dish. Chop the top off the garlic heads and add them to the same dish.
- Season and Roast: Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the pumpkin and garlic, season with salt, and massage the oil evenly to coat the vegetables. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft when pierced with a fork or toothpick.
- Blend Pumpkin and Garlic: Allow the roasted vegetables to cool slightly. Squeeze the roasted garlic bulbs to release the soft garlic flesh into the pumpkin. Using an immersion or regular blender, blend until smooth with no chunks remaining.
- Cook Pasta and Saute Sage: Boil pasta in heavily salted water according to package instructions. Meanwhile, sauté sage leaves in a skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil until crisp, then remove the leaves from the skillet.
- Prepare Sauce Base: Add red pepper flakes to the hot skillet and sauté for about a minute. Add the pumpkin puree and a ladle of reserved pasta water, stirring to combine.
- Combine Pasta and Sauce: When pasta is almost al dente, drain and add it directly to the skillet with the pumpkin sauce. Mix in grated parmesan cheese and an additional ladle of reserved pasta water. Stir gently until evenly coated, adjusting with more pasta water if the sauce is too thick.
- Serve: Top the pasta with crispy sage leaves, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and ground black pepper. Serve immediately and enjoy this rich, seasonal dish.
Notes
- Adjust red pepper flakes to control the level of spiciness.
- Use freshly grated parmesan for best flavor and texture.
- Reserve pasta cooking water to adjust sauce consistency and help it bind to noodles.
- Roasting the garlic softens it, adding a mellow sweetness to the sauce.
- This sauce works well with any pasta shape but holds best with wide noodles or penne.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 420 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 350 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 55 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 15 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg
