Easy Pumpkin Pasta

Pumpkin pasta is just like regular pasta. It’s easy to make, but the sauce is made with pumpkin instead of tomato. 

As I demonstrated a while back with my crock pot pumpkin chili, pumpkin makes a great savory dish. This one is a lot like pumpkin lasagna, but the sauce is a bit different.

The great thing about this is that you can experiment with the sauce. Sometimes I make it more savory, sometimes I make it spicier. Sometimes I add cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. It depends on what kind of dish you want. As with tomato sauces, it’s pretty versatile. I’d even argue that it’s more versatile.

Easy Pumpkin Pasta

• 1 box rigatoni
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 15 ounces pumpkin puree
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsps garlic powder
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 tsps red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp onion powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 lb ground meat
• mozzarella and Parmesan, to taste

Step 01: Boil the pasta according to packaged directions.

Step 02: Brown the meat in a large skillet. Add the sauce ingredients (everything but the pasta) to the meat and mix well.

Step 03: Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to coat. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water (tablespoons at a time). Serve warm and topped with cheese.

With a lot of these types of recipes, I tend to only make them once a year (especially the pumpkin lasagna). But this one, like the chili, is too easy and too delicious not to make multiple times a year.

I do tend to make it a little too spicy, because pumpkin doesn’t have a robust flavor like tomato does. It tends to be bland without a lot of seasoning. So don’t be afraid of over-seasoning this particular dish. It benefits from it.

Easy Pumpkin Pasta

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Serves: 5 Prep Time: 10m Cooking Time: 10m

Ingredients

• 1 box rigatoni
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 15 ounces pumpkin puree
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsps garlic powder
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 tsps red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp onion powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 lb ground meat
• mozzarella and Parmesan, to taste

Instructions

Step 01: Boil the pasta according to packaged directions.

Step 02: Brown the meat in a large skillet. Add the sauce ingredients (everything but the pasta) to the meat and mix well.

Step 03: Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to coat. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water (tablespoons at a time). Serve warm and topped with cheese.

Easy Pumpkin Pasta was last modified: May 22nd, 2017 by Chelsey