Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
So it’s officially winter here in sunny Dubai and I’ve had pumpkins stacked on my kitchen counter for what feels like forever. One fortuitous night a few months ago, I pureed everything, and now I have bags of frozen pumpkin puree in my freezer. I started needing freezer space and so those bags of puree started standing out more and more. Lo and behold, my love for hacking regular recipes into healthy recipes kicked in and I decided to cheat my way into a creamy pasta and turn it into a nutritious not so guilty meal.
FYI since I cant’t wait to show you what it looks like, HYG:
So here’s what you’ll need to do.
Ingredients:
- Whole wheat / spelt / chickpea pasta or spaghetti (I used fusilli)
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 10–15 plum cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 cup milk of your choice
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Handful of fresh basil, shredded (optional)
- Handful of grated parmesan (grana padano / picorino cheese also work)
And here’s how the magic happens:
1- On medium heat, start cooking the onions in the olive oil until transparent, and add garlic, In the meantime, cook pasta as per instructions on the packaging, and set aside to drain in a colander once done.
2- Once the onions and garlic are a light gold color, add the cherry tomatoes, and stir fry them a bit until their juices mix with the garlic and onion.
3- Stir in the pumpkin puree and cook 2–3 min until moisture evaporates and you’re left with a slightly pasty texture.
4- Dissolve the corn starch in the milk, and add the mixture to the pumpkin on the stove. Add half the cheese.
5- Add salt and pepper to taste (you might need a little extra salt to counter the onion & pumpkin sweetness) and cook until the mixture has a smooth creamy texture (pumpkin pulp pieces is normal) and consistency.
6- Add pasta and cook them for a further minute, remove off the stove so they stop cooking, serve in a plate with some more cheese on top, and enjoy
Et Voila, my cheat version of a creamy pasta. So good and so light and totally worth going back for seconds :)
