One of the many things I like about pasta is how easy it is to prepare and to pair with a sauce. Hot pasta tossed with good olive oil infused with fragant garlic along with a shower of chopped fresh parsley and minced pepper for some heat is very satisfying and tasty. Today’s offering of pasta with pumpkin is something that I did spontaneously one evening after I came home from a full day of work. Pasta was the quickest thing for me to make in my state of hunger, and I tossed it with some leftover fried (sautéed) pumpkin. The dish was light, creamy and savoury with a hint of sweetness from the pumpkin.
INGREDIENTS
● 3 tablespoons oil (use olive oil if you have)
● 2 pounds orange-flesh pumpkin, peeled and chopped into cubes
● 1 cup finely chopped onions
● Minced hot pepper to taste
● 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed and chopped finely
● Salt and pepper to taste
● 3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
● 1 teaspoon sugar (brown or white)
● 1 pound dried pasta (I used rigatoni but use a pasta of your choosing)
● Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
● Grated parmesan cheese (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Add oil to a large frying pan or karahi and place on medium heat until the oil is hot but not smoking.
2. Toss in the onions, hot pepper and thyme, season with salt and pepper to taste and toss. Reduce heat to low and let cook until the onions are softened without developing a colour. When the onions are softened, turn the heat back to medium and add the garlic and pumpkin. Season lightly with salt and pepper, toss to mix and then cover the pan tightly. Reduce heat to low and let cook for 20 minutes.
3. Remove cover from pan at the end of the 20 minutes and use the back of your spoon to mash the softened pumpkin until it is smooth. Turn heat to medium, sprinkle in the sugar, toss to mix and let cook until all the excess moisture is gone. The cooked pumpkin should be creamy and moist but not watery. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary, however, remember that there will be salt in the cooked pasta.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water to taste then add the pasta; stir and cook according to package instructions or your preference. When pasta is cooked, drain well (reserving some of the liquid) and add to pan with pumpkin and toss well to coat and mix.
5. Serve hot garnished with parsley and cheese if using.
NOTES
● If you can, cook the pumpkin and pasta at the same time so that they both finish cooking almost at the same time. Under cook the pasta slightly, and add it to the pumpkin so that is can finish cooking in the pumpkin-sauce to absorb even more flavour.
● The reserved hot liquid from the pasta is to be added if the pumpkin and pasta mixture becomes too thick and needs thinning out to be more sauce-like; only add by ¼ cup at a time until your desired consistency.
