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Every Autumn, when the pumpkins arrive at the grocery stores, I always buy a bunch of Pie Pumpkins (the little round ones) and make big batches of roasted pumpkin puree for use in all kinds of fun recipes throughout the cooler seasons. Yes, you can get pumpkin puree in a can, but roasting it myself has become kind of a seasonal ritual for me, and it's just so much tastier than the canned stuff. So homemade it is.
The recipe that follows is one of my new favorite things to do with some of that roasted pumpkin puree. It's dead simple, with only five ingredients. And once you've got your pumpkin puree, it comes together in the time it takes to boil some pasta. Oh, and it's vegan, which is something that pretty much never happens in our house, but I even tried adding cream, and my husband and I both felt that it detracted from both the pumpkin flavor and the smokiness of my Spanish Sunset Spice Blend.
Let's get cooking, shall we?
Spanish Sunset Pumpkin Pasta
Makes 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
1 pound fusilli or other short pasta
Kosher salt
2 cups pumpkin purée
1 tablespoon Spanish Sunset Spice Blend
1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley, plus more for serving
Directions:
Cook pasta until al dente in a large pot of salted water. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water, and transfer to a large bowl.
Meanwhile, place pumpkin and Spanish Sunset Spice Blend in a large skillet or wide heavy pot over medium heat, whisking constantly, until smooth and warmed through, about 3 minutes. Add about 1/2 cup pasta water and whisk to combine. Add pasta and parsley and cook, adding more pasta water to thin sauce as needed, until heated through, about 1 minute. Serve pasta immediately, topped with some more parsley, if desired.