A while ago a few of my friends and I had a conversation about getting a toddler to eat vegetables. One friend mentioned that she had started pureeing pumpkin as a pasta sauce and that her very fussy little boy gobbled it all up. It was then that I remembered that I had been doing that for ages but not to get a fussy eater to eat their vegetables but simply because creamy pumpkin pasta sauce is just so dreamy. It’s also a great way to cheat your way to a creamy sauce without actually using any cream.
How do you make pumpkin sauce?
To get the most out of the pumpkin, I roasted it with a drizzle of honey and a few sprigs of fresh thyme until they were caramelized and sweet. I then pureed the little roasted pumpkin with a splash of milk until smooth and creamy. To add even more flavor to the sauce (and so that it’s not literally pasta in mushed pumpkin), I sautéed off an onion and a little garlic until soft and fragrant before adding the puree and a splash of stock. This was simply warmed through and just before mixing with the pasta, I added a teaspoon of the bacon fat (because, uh, why the heck not?!) and a handful of finely grated Parmesan which melted into the sauce and added serious depth and flavour. Crispy bacon bits are stirred through at the end because BACON and also because its smoky, saltiness goes so well with the sweet, earthy pumpkin sauce. An easy, bloody delicious pasta with hidden vegetables even the fussiest of eaters will love? You’re welcome!
Pumpkin recipes:
Easy tomato cream rigatoni
Creamy lemon broccoli pasta
