Creamy Pumpkin and Bacon Pasta

Recipe:

Ingredient Notes:

• Pumpkin/squash. For this dish, choose a squash with a pronounced flavor and vibrant color that is firm and not watery. Both butternut and acorn squash work well. The difference is that butternut squash will make the sauce sweeter.
  You can also use canned pumpkin purée for the sauce’s liquid base. You’ll need 180 grams. Frozen pumpkin works well for sautéing with bacon.
• Bacon. For this recipe, it is better to choose meaty bacon.
  Smoked ham can be used as a less fatty substitute.
• Pasta. Any kind of pasta will work, whether long or short. In my opinion, spaghetti is best.
• Cream. Use 20% cream for the sauce. If you only have heavy cream, use it and replace a third of the specified volume with milk.
• Onions. Regular yellow onions work fine here. For a more delicate flavor, use shallots or leeks.

Let’s start cooking!

Make pumpkin purée. Cut the pumpkin into large cubes. Pour water over the cubes and cook them until tender, adding a little salt. Drain the water and blend the pumpkin into a puree.

Cut the remaining pumpkin and bacon into small cubes. Finely chop the onion and garlic.

Heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring, for 3-4 minutes.

Add bacon and pumpkin and sauté, stirring, until the pumpkin is soft, about 5 to 7 more minutes.

Add pumpkin purée, garlic, and cream to the pan. Bring to a boil, cook over low heat until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, boil the spaghetti. Add the spaghetti to the sauce, stir, and arrange on plates.

If desired, sprinkle with grated Parmesan or a similar hard cheese.

Enjoy!

This Creamy Pumpkin and Bacon Pasta recipe was checked, prepared and approved by Chef Tatyana Nazaruk - author of FlavorIt.com.
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