Easy Vegan Pumpkin Sauce Pasta Recipe
Easy Pumpkin Sauce Pasta Recipe without any cream. Kid-friendly, Healthy veggie loaded whole wheat fusilli pasta in a rich and creamy vegan pumpkin sauce. Best way to use leftover pumpkin puree.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
Ingredients for Pumpkin Pasta Sauce (1 cup is 250 ml, 1 tsp is 5 ml and 1 tbsp is 15 ml)
- 750 gms Pumpkin
- 20 Cashews (soaked in 1/2 cup hot water)
- ½ cup Onions (finely chopped)
- 3 tsp Garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- ½ tsp Dried Rosemary
- ½ tsp Smoked Paprika Powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli powder substitute with extra paprika or cayenne for heat
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder
- ½ tsp Dried Oregano Powder
- A pinch of Nutmeg powder
- 2 ½ cups Water (for grinding the cashew, cooking the pumpkin and adjusting the sauce consistency)
- Salt to taste
Ingredients for Whole Wheat Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce
- 1 ½ cups Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta
- 1 ¼ cups Pumpkin Sauce
- 1 ½ cup Finely chopped Spinach
- 1 cup Steamed Corn Corn steamed with salt and turmeric powder
- ½ cup Finely chopped Onions
- 10 Pitted Black Olives Sliced
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- ¼ cup Pasta Water to adjust consistency
- Basil Leaves for Garnish
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Step 1 - Making the Vegan Pumpkin Sauce
- Soak the cashews in hot water for atleast 15 minutes.
- In the meanwhile, cut the skin, remove the flesh or pumpkin guts and separate the seeds, keep it aside.
- Roughly chop the pumpkin into thick chunks. Give it a good rinse.
- Heat water in a pan, add the pumpkin and cook it until its soft. Switch off the flame and allow the pumpkin to cool.
- While the pumpkin cools, drain the water from the cashews and grind it into a smooth paste. Add couple of spoons of water, if required.
- Once cool, use an immersion blender or a mixer grinder jar and blend into a smooth paste. Do not add any water.
- Put the same pan back on the heat, add oil, finely chopped garlic and onions. Saute until they have caramelized or golden brown.
- Now add the pumpkin puree, herbs, salt to taste, smoked paprika powder, kashmiri red chilli powder and mix well until it thickens slightly.
- To the pumpkin mixture, add the ground cashew paste and mix well. Ensure the flame is low at this point. We don't have to boil the mixture for too long. Add nutmeg powder and switch off the flame.
- Your Pumpkin sauce is ready. Either cool it and then transfer it to the refrigerator or freeze it for use later.
Step 2 - Making the Whole Wheat Pasta with Pumpkin Sauce
- I have used 1 & 1/4 cup of pumpkin sauce for making the pasta.
- To cook the pasta, boil water with salt in a wide pan. Add the pasta and cook it al dente.
- Drain the pasta. Note - reserve some pasta water for the gravy.
- Heat a pan, add olive oil and saute finely chopped onion. Add finely chopped spinach and allow it to wilt slightly. Ensure the flame is on medium heat. Add the steamed corn and saute well.
- Now add the cooked pasta to the vegetables and sauce along with some reserved pasta water to adjust the consistency.
- Mix well, add sliced olives and switch off flame once you see the pasta thickening.
- Garnish it with basil leaves and some extra sliced olives and serve piping hot with bread.
1 cup is 250ml, 1 tbsp 15ml, 1 tsp 5ml
Notes
- I have made the pumpkin sauce from scratch. You can make use of canned pumpkin puree or frozen pumpkin puree for this recipe as well. It would drastically cut down the cooking time.
- Always add pasta to boiling water with salt. The water should be salty so that the cooked pasta doesn't taste bland.
- Please also note that whole wheat pasta takes a bit longer to cook than regular durum wheat pasta. Keep an eye to avoid overcooking. Pasta should be al-dente.
- Reserving and adding the cooked pasta water adds a silky texture to the sauce and is the best way to adjust the consistency instead of plain water.
- If you notice, I have not added any herbs to the pasta because the sauce has all the flavours. If you love spicy pasta, you can sprinkle some red chilli flakes on top.
- Leftover pasta can be refrigerated and re-heated in a microwave oven.
- The pumpkin sauce stays fresh in the refrigerator for a couple of days and freezes for atleast a week. I honestly haven't tried freezing the sauce more than a week since I make a small batch.
- Herbs can be entirely your choice. I have added herbs that match well with pumpkin and spinach.
- Ensure you do not add more than a tiny pinch of nutmeg to the recipe. It adds a lot of flavor especially when you make pasta pumpkin with spinach.
- I always stock corn at home that is usually steamed with salt and turmeric powder.
- Add salt with caution. The reserved pasta water and the pasta sauce both have salt. Please taste check before you add extra.