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A creamy pumpkin sauce without cream and butter. Just the way I like my “tomato-less pasta sauce” to be.

Cream is sickly heavy and cheese is overused. Any solution? Mine is a sauce whose creaminess comes from pureed pumpkin and egg yolks.

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A sprinkle of Parmesan. A sprinkle or two: I swear, it’s enough. I could have melt half of my Italian cheese shape in this pasta and then totally covered the subtle taste of the pumpkin. No, no, no… cheese tastes great to me but I want to do justice to pumpkin.

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Sometimes I fall asleep mixing ingredients in my mind. Sometimes a recipe is my last thought of the day. Does this happen to you as well? Sometimes a recipe is still there in my mind when I woke up in the morning.

The moment before I fall asleep, I am recipe developer. This is a glorious moment. Soon after I wake up, I realize I need Google to confirm if I came up with something new, something never tried before.

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“Never tried before” is a concept the web does not digest well. Everything has been tried and published already.
No surprise I deceived myself one more time with this pasta: there is someone, somewhere in this world, who mixed pumpkin and peas before me (of course!). There’s even a website called sweet peas and pumpkin – I found out the morning after I conceived this recipe.

Well, never mind, I’ll keep dreaming on.

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Pea and Pumpkin Penne

  1. Add the oil to a large skillet, then add the pumpkin puree, the two egg yolks and stir to combine. Place everything back into the large bowl and add cheese and nutmeg.
  2. Whisk to combine everything and season with salt to taste.
  3. Meanwhile, add salt to a pot of water and once it reaches a boil add your pasta. Cook until al dente.
  4. In another skillet, while the pasta is cooking, add peas and olive oil, cook for about 5 minutes then turn the fire off. Stir in the pumpkin sauce.
  5. Add the pasta to the sauce and fold well together. Serve immediately.


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8 Comments

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  1. These directions are a little confusing.

    Do you cook the pumpkin with egg yolks? If not, why put them in a skillet only to mix them and then put them in a bowl?

    Reply

  2. It is impossible to think of anything that hasn’t already been done in the food blogging world. It drives me nuts! But you have to stay true to your imagination and do what you want.

    I think that was a good call with this one, it looks amazing! I love how simple it is.

    Reply

  3. I have so many pumpkins, and not enough ideas. Love squashed filled ravioli, but this looks just as good and a lot easier. I know the feeling of inventing something only to find that someone beat you to it. But it is still new to many of us, and so worthwhile. Thanks.

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