This speedy spiced pumpkin pasta recipe makes a creamy pumpkin pasta sauce for any pasta, fresh or dried. The rich velvety sauce clings lusciously to fusilli and other spiral pastas. It’s also heavenly with fresh homemade pastas, especially gnocchi. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, chilli flakes, crunchy fried breadcrumbs, and fresh basil.
This quick and easy pumpkin pasta recipe will make you a creamy pumpkin pasta sauce that’s fantastic with fresh or dried pasta, but we love the way it coats coiled pastas like fusilli. The pumpkin sauce is gently spiced, but it’s nothing if not versatile. Bump up the spice levels or treat it as a clean-out-the-fridge pasta. Mushrooms and asparagus are fantastic additions.
As luscious as this creamy pumpkin sauce is, this pumpkin pasta dish is really elevated when it’s finished with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmiagiano Reggiano, which adds umami, the Italian crunchy fried breadcrumbs called pangrattato, which add texture, fresh basil, which gives fragrance and flavour, and a sprinkle of chilli flakes for warmth.
If you’re a pumpkin lover – try our recipes for this pumpkin lentil salad, spiced pumpkin soup and Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup if you are – and if you’re fond of sweet and savoury porridges, such as this buckwheat kasha with bacon, eggs and mushrooms, you’ll love my take on this spiced pumpkin porridge with spices, seeds and dried fruit, topped with crunchy caramelised pumpkin.
Looking for more quick and easy pasta recipes? Try my creamy tomato pasta sauce with gnocchi, penne Bolognese recipe for a ‘cheat’s Bol’, this asparagus, mushrooms and bacon gnocchi, cherry tomato feta pasta, my bacon and mushroom pasta, this canned tuna pasta with scallions, capers and fresh herbs, and this lemon pasta recipe for pasta al limone from Southern Italy.
I’ll tell you more about this pumpkin pasta recipe with a creamy pumpkin pasta sauce below. If you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, we have many hundreds of recipes from around the world in our archives. You can save your favourites by clicking on the heart on the right of any post to create your own private account.
Pumpkin Pasta Recipe for Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Sauce for Any Pasta
Pumpkins are so plentiful here and so incredibly delicious, I’m doing a lot of cooking with pumpkins. I had a wonderful Australian Kent pumpkin recently, which was very nutty and tasted like a sweet potato. But for me, it’s hard to beat the sweetness of butternut pumpkins.
That means I’m making all kinds of pumpkin dishes – from pumpkin dips, pumpkin salads and pumpkin sides to pumpkin soups, pumpkin stews, pumpkin curries, pumpkin pastas, and even pumpkin desserts. It’s a wonder we’re not orange!
I’ll post my recipes for pumpkin curry and pumpkin stew over coming days, especially for those of you looking for cosy, comforting recipes. But I wanted to share this creamy pumpkin pasta recipe first, which is a year-round dish. Reduce the size and serve it with a salad to lighten the pasta up during warmer months.
A few reader-friends asked for my pumpkin pasta recipe, as they said recipes they’d tried this pumpkin season resulted in bland dishes. There’s nothing worse for a passionate home cook to be disappointed by a recipe – believe me, I know the feeling! – but there’s no reason for a dish to turn out flavourless. I have a few tips for you…
Firstly, unless you’re familiar with the authors of recipes, cooked loads of their recipes, and know their recipes are reliable and always turn out to be delicious, treat recipes as guides that can be adjusted. If you know the recipe writer, food blogger or chef and love their recipes, then cook the recipes exactly as written the first time.
Secondly, always taste and if needed tweak as you go, especially if you have any concerns about the measures of ingredients called for in the recipe; whether you think it’s not enough or too much. In that case, err on the side of caution and remember you can keep always add more salt or whatever, but you can’t take it away.
We learnt the “always taste as you go” lesson in the kitchen with Australian-born Thai food chef David Thompson on story assignments many years ago. David was constantly dipping spoons in pots and tasting dishes, especially curries, during the course of their development. Because flavours do develop and become deeper in curries or any dishes that feature spices.
Lastly, there’s no reason to tip the contents of a pan into the bin if you’ve been tasting as you go – yet that’s something I often see in the comments at the end of recipes on cooking sites and blogs. And if a dish is “bland”, you have a greater chance of saving it by adding flavour – whether it’s salt, spice, herbs, umami, and/or texture in the form of crunch, such as crispy fried breadcrumbs or dukkah, the Middle Eastern nut, seed and spice condiment.
Just a few tips to making this pumpkin pasta recipe with a creamy pumpkin pasta sauce.
Tips to Making this Pumpkin Pasta Recipe and a Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Sauce for Any Pasta
I only have a few tips to making this pumpkin pasta recipe with a creamy pumpkin pasta sauce, as it’s a quick and easy pasta.
The Ingredients
Just a few tips on the ingredients for this creamy pumpkin pasta, starting with the pumpkin.
Pumpkin
You could really use any kind of pumpkin or squash in this pumpkin pasta recipe, but I really love butternut pumpkin for its sweetness. The pumpkin is easy to prep: you just need to peel the pumpkin, deseed it, and cut it into roughly 3cm cubes.
Spices, Olive Oil and Condiments
Use fresh dried spices, a good quality extra virgin olive oil and a good quality parmesan cheese, preferably the real deal, Parmiagiano Reggiano. If you don’t have any Italian crunchy fried breadcrumbs on hand, see our pangrattato recipe, as it’s super easy to make and can be made ahead.
Pangrattato
Like dukkah, I always have pangrattato on hand, as I sprinkle the stuff on everything from eggs to salads to add crunch and texture. I used this plain pangrattato the first time I made this dish. But you could try this pangrattato with lemon zest, parsley and parmesan (which I did the second time I made it), but in that case, skip the parmesan and chives. We also loved this.
In Italian, ‘pangrattato’ means grated bread, or breadcrumbs – ‘pan’ is bread, and ‘grattato’ is grated – but typically refers to the crunchy toasted breadcrumbs. To make pangrattato, you simply stir-fry the breadcrumbs continuously in extra virgin olive oil (preferably) or a decent quality olive oil in a pan over medium heat until golden-brown and crunchy.
Italian cooks use plain breadcrumbs, but we also use Japanese panko breadcrumbs sometimes for extra crunch and texture. I use this round flat bottomed wok for almost everything and it’s perfect for making pangrattato, but by all means use your favourite frying pan.
It’s essential to continuously stir-fry the breadcrumbs. I use a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Don’t stop frying, as they’ll start to burn. As soon as the breadcrumbs turn golden-brown, pour them into a bowl to cool. When completely cool, pangrattato can be transferred to mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars.
The Cooking Process
The cooking process for making this pumpkin pasta recipe is straightforward if you follow my recipe. First, you’ll put a large pasta pot of salted water on to boil, then when it’s on a rolling boil, you’ll add the pasta and cook it until al dente.
Cook the Pumpkin
While the water is boiling and pasta cooking, to a large deep frying pan over medium-high heat you’ll add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil until shimmering, fry the finely diced onion until soft, transfer it to a small dish (to return later to the pan), then cook the pumpkin.
To cook the pumpkin, you’ll add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the same frying pan, heat it until hot, fry the pumpkin cubes until soft, golden-brown, and even a little crunchy and charred in places. You’ll season the pumpkin with salt and spices, stir to incorporate, then remove from the heat to mash with a fork, leaving some of the crunchier pieces whole.
Next, you’ll return the pan to the heat on low, return the onions, add the cream, tomato paste and tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese (ideally grated Parmiagiano Reggiano) and stir to incorporate.
Combine the Pumpkin and Pasta
When the pasta is ready, you’ll use a slotted spoon to transfer it to the pan, taking some pasta water with it, stir gently to combine, and increase the heat to reduce the pumpkin sauce until thick and creamy. If the sauce is too dense, add more pasta water and combine.
Lastly, this is where you need to taste and adjust the seasoning if you like, adding a little more salt and spices to the sauce.
Serve the Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
Transfer the creamy pumpkin pasta to a serving plate or distribute between bowls, then drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, chilli flakes, crunchy fried breadcrumbs, and fresh basil leaves.
Serve with a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and more parmesan cheese, chilli flakes, crunchy fried breadcrumbs, and fresh basil on the table so people can customise their pasta as they like.
Pumpkin Pasta Recipe and a Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Sauce for Any Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 350 g fusilli - or another spiral pasta
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - divided
- 1 onion - finely diced
- 500 g butternut pumpkin - peeled, deseeded, cut into 3cm cubes
- ½ tsp salt - and more if desired
- ½ tsp garlic powder - and more if desired
- ½ tsp ground cumin - and more if desired
- ½ tsp ground paprika - and more if desired
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric - and more if desired
- 100 ml thickened cream
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese - divided, ideally Parmiagiano Reggiano
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp crunchy fried breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp fresh basil - small sprigs
Instructions
- Put a large pasta pot of salted water on the stove to boil over high heat. When there’s a rolling boil, add the pasta, give it a stir to ensure it’s separated, and put the lid partly on at a tilt; remove the lid when it starts to boil over, and cook until al dente.
- In a large deep frying pan over medium-high heat a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil until shimmering and fry the finely diced onion until soft and transparent, then transfer to a small dish.
- To the same frying pan, add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and heat until hot then fry the butternut pumpkin cubes until soft, golden-brown, and even a little crunchy and charred in places.
- Sprinkle on the salt, garlic powder, ground cumin, paprika, and turmeric, stir well to incorporate, and remove from the heat. Use a fork or mash the pumpkin, leaving some of the crunchier pieces whole.
- Return the frying pan to the heat on low, return the cooked diced onion to the pan, and add the cream, tomato paste and a tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese (ideally grated Parmiagiano Reggiano), and stir to incorporate.
- When the pasta is ready, use a slotted spoon to transfer it to the pan, taking some pasta water with it, stir gently to combine well, increase the heat so the pumpkin sauce reduces until thick and creamy.
- If the sauce is too dense, add more pasta water and stir to combine. Taste, and adjust the seasoning, adding a little more salt and spices if you like.
- Transfer the creamy pumpkin pasta to a serving plate or distribute between bowls, then drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, chilli flakes, crunchy fried breadcrumbs, and fresh basil leaves.
- Serve with a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and more parmesan cheese, chilli flakes, crunchy fried breadcrumbs, and fresh basil on the table so people can customise their pasta as they like.
Notes
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our pumpkin pasta recipe with a creamy pumpkin pasta sauce, as we love hearing how our recipes turn out for you.
