Description
This creamy pumpkin pasta is a comforting and flavorful dish featuring tender pumpkin blended with mascarpone and tomato purée, tossed with perfectly cooked rigatoni or penne pasta. It’s an easy-to-make meal that combines silky texture with rich cheesy flavors, perfect for cozy dinners.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Pumpkin Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 500g pumpkin or squash, peeled and cut into roughly 3cm cubes
- 50–100ml whole milk
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tbsp mascarpone
- 40g grated parmesan or vegetarian alternative, plus extra to serve
For the Pasta
- 350g short pasta (rigatoni or penne work well)
- Salt (for cooking pasta and seasoning)
Instructions
- Prepare the onion and garlic: Heat the olive oil in a large, shallow, flameproof casserole or frying pan over low-medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion with a pinch of salt and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until the onion becomes softened and translucent. Add the crushed garlic and fry for an additional 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Cook the pumpkin: Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to a boil and add the pumpkin cubes. Cook for 10-15 minutes until they are tender when pierced with a knife. Drain the pumpkin thoroughly.
- Blend the pumpkin sauce: Place the drained pumpkin into a blender or use a hand blender. Add 50ml of whole milk and the cooked onion and garlic mixture. Blitz until completely smooth, gradually adding more milk as needed to achieve a thick consistency that just coats the back of a spoon.
- Finish the sauce: Transfer the blended mixture into a large frying pan. Stir in the tomato purée and mascarpone. Gently bring the sauce to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally to combine all flavors.
- Cook the pasta: In a large pan of boiling salted water, cook the rigatoni or penne pasta following the package instructions until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 50-100ml of the cooking water.
- Toss pasta with sauce: Add the cooked pasta to the pumpkin sauce pan. Sprinkle in the grated parmesan and stir well to combine. Add some of the reserved cooking water (50-100ml) gradually to loosen the sauce and coat the pasta evenly. Season with salt to taste.
- Serve: Dish out the creamy pumpkin pasta onto plates and scatter with extra parmesan cheese to serve.
Notes
- This dish can be made vegetarian by using a vegetarian parmesan alternative.
- If you prefer a vegan version, mascarpone can be substituted with a vegan cream cheese alternative and cheese can be omitted.
- Adjust the milk quantity to control the sauce thickness.
- Reserve pasta water is essential for loosening the sauce and helping it cling to pasta.
- For added flavor, sprinkle fresh herbs such as sage or thyme when serving.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: creamypumpkinpasta, pumpkinpasta, autumnrecipes, vegetarianpasta, creamy pumpkin sauce, easydinner, comfortfood
