Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

I didn't make it to the grocery store on Monday like I'd hoped, so we couldn't have the planned meal since I had no eggs. So I looked in the pantry (which I had just cleaned out and organized on Sunday night) and what is staring me in the face... a can of organic pumpkin. I have also been cleaning out old recipes I've saved from magazines and remembered seeing one for a pumpkin penne. So I went looking for it and found it - its from an old issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray... I'm not sure what month/year because it doesn't print on the bottom of the pages and I didn't write it down. I also found it online. This was super fast and easy to make. I did it in two pans to save on some time, but you'll see below that the recipe actually recommends doing it in one pan - so super easy clean up if you do it that way. I only made a half-recipe, but I've posted the full recipe, which is supposed to be 4 servings... that is one thing about Rachael Ray that really bothers me... her servings are enormous!! There's no way I (or any other normal person) could eat the size serving she suggests. But anyway, back to the recipe. This was good. I didn't love it, but I liked it. Carson gobbled it down and kept calling it "aroni and cheese"... and I let him think that's what it was so he'd eat it well. :)

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

1 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
Salt and pepper
One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Return the pasta to the pot along with the reserved pasta cooking water and toss. Stir in the parmesan; season with salt and pepper.

Top the pasta with the parsley and more parmesan.

3 comments:

The Voogts said...

Interesting. Does it taste really pumpkin-y? I have a recipe for pumpkin pasta that I've been meaning to try. Maybe this weekend. We'll see.

I've always thought that about RR servings too. Especially when she makes burgers. Holy cow! Does she really eat that much at one meal herself? I could eat 1/3 of 1 of her servings and have plenty. I rarely make RR recipes. Just too many ingredients, too many steps, too many pans, too much mess. I always feel like I'm scrambling/scattered when I make her recipes.

kat said...

That does sound good & I am so with you on her serving size.

Sara said...

You can definitely taste the pumpkin. It was just hard for me to really love the savory taste of pumpkin, rather than the sweet taste when its used in baking and desserts. It wasn't bad... just takes some getting used to.

I love RR recipes - they're always so good! I usually just simplify them to my needs and I don't feel like its too much. The couple times I did follow her recipes exactly as stated, I felt a little overwhelmed. But as long as I adjust them to my needs, they are awesome! Super tasty, generally very easy both for making them and for clean up (b/c I usually cut down on the number of pans/bowls than she suggests), and super quick! The trifecta, in my opinion!! :)