Monday, October 06, 2014

Baked Pasta in Creamy Pumpkin Sauce


Is fall season and there were all kinds of pumpkins around and they were really cheap too. There are only two kinds of pumpkins that I like. One of it is Kabocha and the other one is butternut squash. I don’t buy them too often as Carlos is not a fan of it so if I cook it I will be the only one eating it. Pumpkin is not only good for pies or dessert but they can be used for savory dishes too.


 I am a bit under the weather because of the intense heat here in Northern CA and I am craving for some creamy and comforting food like pasta but not too keen of adding too much cream or tons of fat in it. So pumpkin comes to the rescue. Pumpkin puree make great base for pasta sauce as it’s naturally creamy so it gives you an alfredo like texture without any heavy cream in it. I like penne pasta so I used it in this dish but you can use any type of pasta of your choice. As for the pumpkin try to use fresh pumpkin instead of the one from the can as I think fresh one taste so much better.



Ingredients:
Serve 4-5

8 oz penne pasta or any type of pasta
1 1/2 cups homemade pumpkin puree
3 cloves garlic - chopped
2 shallots – chopped
2 tbsp butter
1 cup milk
½ cup water
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste


1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degree F. Prepare a baking dish and grease it with some butter or oil. In a non stick, dry toast the panko breadcrumbs until lightly brown. Set it aside.
2. Heat up a large skillet, add in the butter and once butter melted add in the garlic and shallots. Sauté until fragrant and lightly brown.
3. Stir in the pumpkin, milk, water, half of the cheddar, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Stir well and bring it up to a low simmer. Stir occasionally for 8 minutes.
4. While sauce is simmering, cook the penne according to the box instructions until al dente. Reserve about half a cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta well.
5. Add pasta to the sauce; stir until pasta is well coated with the sauce. If the mixture is too thick to your liking you can add in a bit of the reserved pasta water to it.
6. Transfer pasta to the baking dish. Combined the balance half cup of grated cheddar with the panko breadcrumbs. Mix well and sprinkle it all over the top of the pasta.
7. Bake it for 25 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown. Remove from and oven and let it cool down a little bit before serving.

6 comments:

PH said...

Gertrude, I am a fan of pumpkins and this baked pasta in creamy pumpkin sauce sounds like something I would love to eat!

QembarDelites said...

This looks like some dish that my son would love, like mac and cheese! yum!

benjamincooking said...

Pumpkin mac&cheese! So lovely!

eileenlml.blogspot.com said...

wow, your creamy pumpkin sauce looks great with the pasta, a nutritious dish and wish to have one now.

You are cordially invited to link up with LTU as this month event is PUMPKIN. The link is as follow :

http://eileenlml.blogspot.com/2014/09/little-thumbs-up-oct-pumpkin.html

Thank you and have a nice day.

Shereen said...

I have to try out this recipe coz guess what?....I'm pumpkin rich...again! Hahaha

~~louise~~ said...

Hi Gert,
So sorry you are not feeling well. I just had to take a minute to tell you how delicious your Creamy Pumpkin Sauce looks over that pasta...wonderful!

Thank you so much for sharing, Gert...Hope you are feeling better...