Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

Pumpkin pasta is like the veggie loaded cousin to mac and cheese. It tastes like comfort food with all of the flavours of the best pumpkin soup you have ever tasted. But surprise, its served in pasta form and takes less than 30 minutes to make!

I don’t know why but every time I plan on making pumpkin soup lately, this is what ends up in my bowl instead!

And I am totally fine with that.

You will love this recipe because it is quick, easy and loaded with flavour. This recipe is the perfect cozy midweek meal.

How to make pumpkin pasta

With just a few simple steps you can make your own homemade pumpkin pasta.

1. Cook pumpkin.
2. Boil your pasta.
3. Fry onion, bacon and mushrooms in butter until they are golden.
4. Blend your sauce ingredients until smooth.
5. Pour your sauce through your pasta, heat and you’re done!

Pumpkin pasta ingredients

Preparing the sauce and the pasta

Ingredients

Pumpkin – The star ingredient of this recipe! Use fresh or frozen pumpkin, whatever type is available. Just make sure that you have removed the skin and seeds before cooking. You can upgrade to roasted pumpkin for even more flavour if you have the time.

Onion – Brown onion works best here but you can use any type you have on hand.

Bacon – I always add bacon to my pumpkin soups and sauces. It adds a salty and smokey richness. If you want this recipe to be meat free you can absolutely swap the bacon out for an extra 1-2 mushrooms. Alternatively if you love bacon cook up some extra to mix through your pasta when its finished!

Mushroom – Mushrooms add that earthy note this recipe, grounding the flavour and making everything taste better. I have used 2 large button mushrooms for this recipe.

Butter – A little butter for sauteing your onions, bacon and mushrooms. Make sure you scrape every last drop out of your pan when you make your sauce.

Cream cheese – For making your pasta loaded with creaminess without the risk of splitting. You can use regular cream instead, just reduce the amount of water you add later on to 1/4 cup.

Chicken stock cube – Swap out for vegetable stock for a vegetarian option.

Garlic powder

Nutmeg

How to serve your pumpkin pasta

Pumpkin pasta is great as a mean meal, eaten like a comforting bowl of mac and cheese or as a side dish to something heaver.

Here are some serving ideas…

• Top with crispy bacon, pumpkin seeds and an extra sprinkling of nutmeg like I have done here.
• Use your pumpkin pasta with some saucy bbq meatballs to make a delicious pumpkin meatball dinner.
• Pumpkin and sausage pasta bake. Cook your pasta to al dente then add an extra 1/2 cup of pasta water to your sauce when you blend it. Mix the sauce through your pasta along with 6 cooked and sliced sausages. Place into a large baking dish and cover with a thin layer of grated cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.
• Roast dinner leftovers. This is a delicious pasta to have with shredded roast chicken, spinach and small pieces of roasted pumpkin mixed through.
• Serve it along side a homemade bread to soak up all of that tasty pasta sauce! Pumpkin bread, garlic knots or a garlic pull apart bread would all be really great options to try.

Pumpkin Pasta

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 400 grams pasta
• 350 g pumpkin diced and skin removed
• 1/2 onion
• 50 g bacon
• 2 mushrooms
• 30 g butter
• 60 g cream cheese
• 1 cube chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Method

 

1. Place your pumpkin into a small saucepan and cover it with water. Heat until the pumpkin is cooked through and tender. Strain out the water and set aside.
2. Prepare your pasta in a large saucepan according to the directions on your packet. Keep in mind that you will need to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water for your sauce.
3. Roughly dice the onion, bacon and mushrooms.
4. In a small frying pan, heat the butter and onions on a medium high heat. Saute until the onions are translucent before adding in your chopped bacon and mushrooms.
5. Continue to saute until everything is cooked through and the edges of everything has browned.
6. Just before your pasta is cooked you can process your sauce. Place your cooked and strained pumpkin into a blender alongside your cooked onion, bacon and mushrooms. Add the remaining ingredients into the blender as well as 1/2 cup of pasta water. Blend everything together until smooth.
7. Once your pasta is just cooked through, strain it and return it to your saucepan. Pour over your pumpkin sauce and stir. Heat on low about 2 minutes to warm everything through.
8. Transfer into bowls and serve with your favourite toppings.

Notes

The sauce can be made ahead and stored in a sealed container. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my pumpkin pasta sauce recipe. I hope you enjoy trying this out for yourself. Please feel free to add any questions or comments below. I am happy to help out wherever possible and I would love to hear how this recipe worked out for you.

Heres something else you may like to try:

Red Pepper Pasta Make Your Own Pizza Dough Pumpkin Donuts – with chocolate topping