With the first glimpse of those little pie pumpkins at the farmer’s market, my mind starts prepping those little pumpkins for this recipe.
This is my one of my very favorite fall comfort dishes. The sauce has a very delicate flavor and is unlike any other sauce I’ve ever used on pasta. I guess it would come closest to resembling an Alfredo sauce, although I’ve never been able to eat more than about two bites of Alfredo sauce without feeling comatose due to it’s overpowering richness. Not so with this healthy pumpkin sauce! The creamy richness comes from nutrient dense pumpkin, rather than unapologetic amounts of heavy cream, cheese and butter.
I’ve been making this pumpkin sauce for years, initially with a little heavy cream and Parmesan, and eventually evolving the recipe to be (mostly) dairy free. It’s still just as delicious, thanks to the uncanny ability of cashews and nutritional yeast to create that mild cheesy flavor. But if you’re not dairy free and want to use Parmesan, go for it! (I’ve included instructions in the notes below)
This is best served with a fine pasta such as tagliatelle and thankfully Jovial brand makes a gluten-free tagliatelle, so this dish can be gluten free as well. I’ve also used fettucinne in the past, and that works well too.
As with any squash, preparing fresh pumpkin is definitely a chore, but it’s worth it for this recipe! I’ve tried to make this dish with canned pumpkin puree and it it didn’t even come close to the goodness of the fresh. Promise you’ll make it at least once with fresh pumpkin too, and you won’t be disappointed!
Like I said, this is a delicately flavored sauce and that’s the way I like it. I eat enough spicy food and this is a nice change of pace. However, feel free to spice it up to your liking, adding more nutmeg, or even some cinnamon, if that sounds good to you. Some fresh sage would be nice too!
Last time I was craving this I couldn’t find pie pumpkins, so I used a medium butternut squash and it turned out amazing. You could also sub acorn or Kabocha squash.
Tagliatelle with Pumpkin Sauce
Serves 6
4 tablespoons grass-fed butter or ghee
1 leek, white and light green parts only, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 pie pumpkins, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
chicken stock (1-2 cups)
¼ cup raw cashews (soaked in hot water for 20 minutes)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
½ teaspoon nutmeg (or more to taste)
1 pound gluten free tagliatelle pasta
Directions:
Start by soaking your cashews in very hot water and set aside.
Melt ghee (or grass-fed butter) and add chopped leek and celery. Saute until they begin to soften, 3-5 minutes.
Add the pumpkin and stir to combine with the leek and celery. Add some chicken stock (about a cup) and cover. Cook until the pumpkin is nice and soft, about 25 minutes, adding more stock as needed to keep moist.
While the pumpkin is cooking, boil water for pasta. When your pumpkin is soft, cook the pasta.
Add soaked cashews, nutritional yeast and cooked vegetables to a high speed blender or food processor and process until very smooth and creamy, adding additional chicken stock if needed.
Return the sauce to the pan to keep warm. Add sea salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix well. Taste for seasoning and add more as needed.
Add the pasta to the pumpkin sauce and mix well to combine. Serve and enjoy!
Notes: To make this with Parmesan, leave out the cashews and nutritional yeast. After you return the creamy pumpkin sauce to the pan, add 1 cup of freshly grated high quality Parmesan cheese after you season the sauce.
