A Passion for Pumpkin

Has anyone else noticed the recent pumpkin craze in America? Granted it is now officially fall, but I have never seen so many different pumpkin flavored things. It seems like every cafe, bakery and coffee shop now has pumpkin spice lattés, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin soup, pumpkin cupcakes, the list goes on. Not that I'm complaining. I have always been a fan of pumpkin in my food, and I'm happy that the rest of America seems to be catching on too.

Earlier this week, I found a link to several pumpkin recipes from Saveur magazine. These aren't your typical pumpkin pie recipes. The pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin couscous look particularly yummy and interesting. This article inspired me to cook with pumpkin in an unexpected way. After some online research, I found a couple different recipes for pumpkin pasta and decided to incorporate ingredients from a few to create my own recipe. And so I came up with...Spicy Pumpkin Sausage Pasta.

It was very easy to make, but had quite a complex flavor profile, with a mix of sweet and spicy. My Spicy Pumpkin Sausage Pasta was the perfect comforting, hearty Friday night meal.

(Note: this recipe only makes about 2 servings)

2 tsp. olive oil

2 links chicken sausage, cut into chunks

1 garlic clove, minced

1 shallot, minced

1/2 cup pumpkin purée

1/2 chicken stock

2 tbsp. milk

7-10 dashes hot sauces (depending on how spicy you like it)

cinnamon

nutmeg

salt

pepper

1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 tbsp. fresh chopped sage

2/3 cup whole wheat penne

1. Bring pot of water to a boil. Add pasta. Cook 7-8 minutes, until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in sauté pan over medium heat. Add sausage, stir around to brown on all sides. Remove sausage with slotted spoon and place on a plate with paper towels.

3. Add the shallot and garlic to the pan. Cook a few minutes until fragrant.

4. Add the chicken stock and pumpkin purée. Stir in milk.

5. Add a couple dashes of hot sauce at a time, until you've reached desired level of spiciness. Season with a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

6. Add the sausage back into the pan. Allow to cook for a few minutes to heat through and absorb flavors.

7. Pour the cooked pasta, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and sage to the sauce mixture. Stir to combine, and add reserved pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce.

8. Garnish with more cheese and sage. Enjoy!