There comes a moment during every week where you just don’t feel like cooking or grocery shopping. This moment calls for pasta. Glorious and comforting, pantry-ready pasta. And when your pantry is stocked with about 10 cans of pumpkin in preparation for Thanksgiving, this vegetarian pumpkin sage pasta is the answer!
It cooks in less than 20 minutes give or take, depending on how fast your water boils and it tastes super creamy like a decadent mac and cheese, but without all the cheese and cream! Just a little touch of goat cheese gives a nice tang to this Pumpkin Sage Pasta.
An Easy Pantry Dinner
The day after I returned from Hawaii, I stared at my empty fridge for a good 10 minutes. What on earth does one make when they have zero desire to go to the grocery store? That’s when I remembered I had a few cans of pumpkin puree in my pantry, saved for the 1000’s of fall Pinterest recipes I was very excited to make. Yeah, anything with pumpkin in it gets me every time. I can’t help that I’m so basic!
When I started the Heal Your Headache Migraine Diet, I always made it a point to keep certain things in stock at all times. Sunbutter, pasta, shallots, seeds, and some kind of fresh cheese. Everything except the cheese keeps for quite a while and is ready to go when you need it. This is the perfect fall meal when you don’t feel like cooking at all.
See this post for a full list of my favorite migraine-friendly pantry staples.
The Best Pasta
For this recipe you can use any kind of pasta you desire. I have a preference for little pumpkin shaped ones from Trader Joe's, but that's completely up to you. If you're gluten free, my recommendation for this pumpkin sage pasta is Olo Chickpea Pasta. Olo is much better than Banza since it doesn't contain pea protein (and I think it tastes better too!).
How to Make Pumpkin Sage Pasta
This dish is truly so easy. It basically requires you to boil water, which is probably the hardest part. Once you get that going, you melt a little bit of butter in a pan and add some shallots and garlic till it's nice and fragrant.
From there, you'll combine the pumpkin puree with a little bit of the leftover pasta water. The starchiness and flavor from the leftover pasta water will help make a thick and creamy sauce, which perfectly coats all the little pastas.
Once that's all mixed, you melt in a tiny bit of cheese. My preference is for goat cheese, also known as chèvre, but cream cheese will work fine here in a pinch. You'll also add sage here too, which will give this a fall, woodsy flavor that compliments the goat cheese and pumpkin nicely.
Top with a few toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and some chives for a little bit of color. The pepitas offer a great texture and crunch to the gooey and delicious pumpkin sage pasta!
I hope you'll give this recipe a try for fall, and let me know how it goes by tagging me or using the hashtag #thedizzycook. Also don't hesitate to leave a comment!
Pumpkin Sage Pasta
Ingredients
- ½ lb pasta of choice *I used pumpkin shaped, but you can use gluten free or whatever your heart desires!
- 2 tbsp good butter
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium shallot, peeled and chopped
- ½ 15oz can unflavored pumpkin puree
- 1 oz unflavored cream cheese or goat cheese
- 1 tbsp fresh sage (or 1 tsp of dried), chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
- ¼ cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) *Toast in a pan over medium low heat, watching closely!
- kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta, but save about a cup of the pasta water for later.
- Meanwhile in a large pan, melt 2tbsp of butter over medium heat and add shallot and garlic. Cook till fragrant, about a minute or two. Add the pumpkin puree and stir to combine. Add a little bit of the pasta water about ¼ cup at a time until desired consistency is reached, the mixture should be thick enough to coat the pasta well. Whisk in 1oz of cheese and sage until creamy and thick. Then add the hot pasta and toss to coat. Add kosher salt and pepper to taste.
- Top pasta with toasted pepitas and chives. Serve immediately.
Notes
- I favor goat cheese/chèvre with this, but cream cheese will work in a pinch.
- Don't skip the pepitas, the texture and crunch is worth it!
- Try subbing out the pumpkin for sweet potato or butternut squash puree to mix things up.
Unfortunately, I am very sensitive to sage... any other suggestions for replacement? Thank You~
Hey Vicki, I would use rosemary! I love rosemary and think it will still give you some of those fall flavors. Thyme might be good as well, although I'd use only about 1/4-1/2tsp dried if you're not using fresh.
This was so, so yummy. A perfect comfort food for this season and easy to make.
Freakin delicious
This recipe is deeeelicious! When it’s done it almost looks like Mac n cheese, but it tastes even better. I love that it incorporates pumpkin and has lots of flavor with the sage and shallots/garlic. Made it with Tinkyada gluten free elbow pasta and it worked great.
Thanks for your review, Molly! I'm so glad you loved it. It's always the recipes I'm like "oh no this is too simple" that turn out to be the biggest hits haha.