Friday, January 28, 2011

Winter Pumpkin Pasta

Of all my emergency/go-to/pantry-dive dinners, pasta dishes are the undisputed champion. Why? All you have to do is boil up some pasta, conjure up a sauce and add whatever you have on hand and voila, you are a kitchen miracle worker, creating dinner out of (seemingly) thin air.

But why reach for the marinara sauce when you can do something novel and use pureed pumpkin to create a quick and easy sauce? Yes, I wrote "pumpkin."

Pumpkin puree makes a really rich tasting and savory sauce for this pasta dish, which can be made with sausage, or vegetarian...both versions are quite tasty!

Winter Pumpkin Pasta

1 pound small pasta
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pound portabella or cremini mushrooms, or alternatively, turkey sausage, crumbled
1 small onion, diced
4 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 - 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 cup white wine or broth
1/2 cup light sour cream
a few dashes hot sauce, optional
fresh parsley, optional

In a stock pot, boil the pasta according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms or sausage, onion and garlic. Sprinkle with salt, thyme, rosemary and pepper. Cook well, for about 6-8 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to brown or sausage is fully cooked.

In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin and wine or broth. Stir well. Add to the skillet and mix to incorporate.

Add the sour cream and stir well. Remove from heat.

Place pasta in a serving bowl and cover with pumpkin sauce. Sprinkle with hot sauce and parsley, if desired.


Serves 6.

Have a sweet weekend,
SPC

1 comment:

Tara said...

Just made this and it was great! I used chicken sausage. Thanks for your great blog!