Pasta with Pumpkin and Bacon
Ingredients
2 servings
- Pasta 200 g
- Water for boiling the pasta 2 l
- Salt for boiling the pasta 14 g (7 g per 1 l of water)
- Pumpkin 300 g
- Smoked-cooked bacon 100 g
- Olive oil (if needed) 1 tbsp
- Parmesan (grated) 1 tbsp (7 g)
- Salt, black pepper to taste
Step-by-step recipe
Pasta and bacon
For pasta with pumpkin, use a ripe pumpkin with orange or reddish flesh. By the way, the “musque” varieties are even better for this dish. Smoked-cooked bacon gives the pasta a special flavor and means you do not need to add spices. Or use raw bacon, and then a little salt and black pepper will not hurt. We usually use short pasta with a hollow, or tubes such as penne or tortiglioni. They hold the sauce well.
Start the pasta: in a pot, bring 2 l of water to a boil over high heat, add salt (14 g, which is 7 g per 1 l), add the pasta and cook until al dente, following the time on the package. Start with the pasta, as it should be ready at the same time as the pumpkin. Be sure to save 1–2 ladles of the pasta cooking water.
Fry the bacon to render the fat: cut the bacon into small slices and fry in a pan over medium heat until crisp. If there is little fat, add a little olive oil. Transfer the crisp fried bacon to a plate and leave the fat in the pan.
Pumpkin sauce
Prepare the pumpkin: remove the seeds and peel. Do not use a ceramic knife, as you will most likely break it. Cut the flesh into small cubes.
Fry the pumpkin in the fat until soft: add the cubes to the hot fat, so that the pumpkin pieces sizzle in it, over medium heat. As soon as the pumpkin is soft and starts to turn golden, transfer it to a cup or bowl and pour the fat out of the pan, since it has done its job. Still, you can keep it if you like, and the dish will be much tastier and richer in calories.
Puree the fried pumpkin with a blender. For better blending, add some of the pasta cooking water.
Combine the pasta with the sauce: drain the cooked pasta in a colander, then transfer it to the pan. Add the pumpkin puree and the crisp fried bacon. Adding the pasta water in small portions, stir everything so the pasta mixes well with the sauce. Warm the pasta with the sauce under a lid for 1–2 mins over low heat.
Serving
Divide the pasta with the bacon slices and pumpkin puree among serving plates. If you feel it needs a little salt and black pepper, go ahead. Sprinkle the dish with finely grated Parmesan or a similar cheese. You can garnish it with a sprig of greens. Serve the pasta right away while it is hot, as it should not be reheated.
If you like, you can add fried onion to the dish, pureeing it together with the pumpkin pieces. To make the sauce thinner, you can use cream or milk. Bacon is easily replaced with traditional Italian products such as guanciale, pancetta or even sausage. You can also sprinkle the pasta with toasted pumpkin seeds when serving.
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Calories and macros
610 kcal
Serving ≈ 350 g
- Protein22 g15% of kcal
- Fat21 g32% of kcal
- Carbs78 g53% of kcal
100 g177 kcalProtein 6.4 gFat 6.1 gCarbs 22.7 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.