3 P’s worth of Autumnal cooking
Oh hi! It’s been about a year since I wrote on here, mainly because I’m a copywriter now and the idea of writing more words after a hard day of words fills me with woe.
BUT, I’ve had a few requests for a recipe, probably from you, if you’re reading this. I didn’t want to just send it to you as a note, so I decided to post it on my blog and send you the link. Is that extra legwork? Yes. But here we are, I’ve done it now. I don’t have a picture though because it looked sh*t.
So, I kind of hate pumpkins, but I challenged myself to use the orange Autumnal buggers in a tasty recipe. And by heck, I did it. I think.
Right, less of my chatting, more recipe-ing.
Ingredients (Serves about 4 people):
- 1 pack bacon or bacon lardons (omit these for vegetarian/vegan, honestly it’ll still be delish)
- 2/3 medium pumpkins (not the big lads you make Jack-o'-lanterns out of)
- Spaghetti, linguine, bucatini. Any pasta really, I just like the long’uns. I actually used farfalle for mine but I’d have preferred a long boy.
- Garlic, about 4/5 cloves. I used big ones because I’m a garlic girl
- Nutmeg, a small grating of
- Sage, as much as you can get your hands on (a bag/bunch will do)
- Parmesan or Grana Padano (use a vegan alternative, highly recommended)
What to do:
Stick the kettle on. Grab a big pan, I use a stock pot, but a deep saucepan will do.
Get a pumpkin peeler— regular potato peelers don’t work very well — and peel your pumpkins (there are too many P’s in this sentence). Once peeled, chop them into cubes about as big as your thumb, if you have cube-y thumbs. Chop your bacon finely if you’ve not got lardons.
Heat a tiny amount of oil in a pan on a medium heat and add your bacon, if using. Cook until brown, then put on a plate for later. Add your pumpkin to the bacon fat and cook for a couple of minutes (just use olive oil instead of bacon if not using).
Add some water, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Basically, you’re braising the pumpkin, which will break it down and form your lovely pasta sauce. Treat it like risotto, add water once you see it’s getting a little dry. Season the pumpkin with Maldon salt and freshly cracked black pepper, more than you think.
While the pumpkin is braising beautifully, start cooking your pasta. You know how to do that, I don’t need to type it out. But aim for al dente. And salt your water before adding the pasta, otherwise it’ll be bland AF.
Once your pumpkin starts breaking down and getting saucy, slice your garlic and add to the pan, followed by a grating of nutmeg for some autumnal loveliness. Chop up your sage and add that to your saucepan too. Your kitchen will now smell like an October paradise, and you’ll be warding off vampires while cleansing your space. Magic.
Add your bacon back to the pan and give everything a stir. Grate in your parmesan/Grana Padano — I used about half a wedge, because I’m a cheesy cheesy boy — and give it a stir. Have a little taste for seasoning and add S+P if needed, then drain your pasta, reserving a ladle full of pasta water.
Stir through the pasta water (it’ll make it glossy AF) and then add the pasta to your pan. Everything should now be in one pan.
Serve with extra cheese and some sage leaves on top, if you’re showing off.
There it is, Perfect Pumpkin Pasta. Autumn in a bowl, post-walk wonderfulness, cosy, steamy, delicious.
P.s. don’t use the pumpkins from PYO pumpkin farms, those aren’t for cooking, they’re bland and should only be made into faces. Use supermarket or farm shop pumpkins, the small ones are best.
P.p.s. Please ask me for more recipes in the future, I forget how much I love writing them out, and I appreciate the feedback on my food. I adore cooking so much and it makes me happy when people say it looks good. So thank you for that.
Love,
Dan the Pumpkin Man (don’t call me this)
