Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

5 from 1 vote

A delicious and savory creamy pumpkin pasta with pancetta. A delicious Italian take on a classic Fall pasta.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Dinner, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 563kcal

Cost: $10

In a small saucepan, add the pumpkin seeds over medium-high heat and toast for 5 minutes, tossing often.
In a small saucepan, add pancetta to a cold pan. Bring the heat to medium and fry until golden brown, about 8 minutes.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt. Add the rigatoni and cook until al dente. Save 1 cup of pasta water.
In a large saucepan, add butter over medium heat. Stir often for about 5-7 minutes until the butter begins to brown. You want the butter to turn a golden brown color with little bits of brown floating at the bottom.
Stir in the sage and chopped shallots until the shallots are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin puree. Combine well and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
Add 1 cup of pasta water to the sauce and stir well. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the heavy cream and parmesan. Strain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Toss well and add the pancetta to the pasta.
Serve hot with extra parmesan cheese.

Brown the butter slowly. If it goes too fast, it can burn, and instead of creating a rich and nutty flavor, it will be bitter.

Brown the pancetta in a cold pan. This will help render the fat and crisp the meat to the perfect golden brown color.

Save at least 1-cup of pasta water to add to the sauce. The pasta water makes up most of the sauce once combined with the pumpkin puree.