Pumpkin Pasta

After my study abroad semester in London, a group of us went on a two week tour around Europe. One of my favorite stops was Venice. How could you not like Venice? Seriously. It was gorgeous. And the food...absolutely delicious. I had the best gelato ever there (fresh strawberry) and also one of the best pastas I had ever tasted. What was it? Pumpkin Pasta.

At the time, I had never had pumpkin in pasta before then. I had never even considered it as something you could pair with pasta. I was blown away at how delicious it was. I asked the waiter what the sauce was made of and he said it was a simple pumpkin and cream sauce.  I searched for a while for a recipe that was similar when I got home but I wasn't able to find one at the time that had the same pumpkin cream sauce.  I attempted one that came close but it wasn't quite right.  Maybe you just had to be in Venice for it to taste right!

I stumbled across this recipe recently and though it was a different compared to what I remembered (i.e. not a cream based sauce), I thought why not. It still sounded like a tasty recipe.  And I had lots and lots of pumpkin in the pantry.  Still do come to think of it...

It's not exactly the prettiest of dishes (seriously...I couldn't get a pretty picture not matter what I tried) but let me tell you...it is down right tasty.  During a season where pumpkin is baked into pies, breads, muffins, and all manner of sweets...it is a nice change to eat it in a savory dish.

I almost used fresh spinach instead of the kale but I decided to go ahead with the kale since it was on sale at the grocery store.  It was my first time eating it and I was very happy with it...not blown away taste wise but it was pretty good.  I may still try the dish with spinach in the future.  I also have a lot of dried pasta in my pantry (a really good sale at the store not long ago) but none of the boxes I have was gemelli so I used rotini instead.  This was a great shape of pasta for this dish.  The sauce clung to the noodles so you got plenty of it in each bite.

A great addition for those that just have to have some meat with their meal, would be either bacon or pancetta.  Sprinkled over top, it would give a delicious crunch along with the almonds.  I topped mine with a little grated parmesan and it was scrumptious.

Pumpkin Pasta

From Everyday Food

Serves 8.

INGREDIENTS

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 pound gemelli pasta, cooked and drained (I used rotini instead)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 bunch (about 8 ounces) kale, thick stems removed and leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 can (29 ounces) pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin-pie filling)

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) reduced sodium vegetable broth

2 tablespoons jarred sun-dried tomato pesto

1/2 cup unblanched almonds, sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta, and drain; reserve. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add kale; cook, stirring, until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Add pumpkin, broth, and pesto; stir to combine. Bring to a simmer. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

2. Toss pasta with pumpkin-kale mixture. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or eight individual dishes. Top with almonds. Bake until top is golden, about 30 minutes.