pumpkin pasta with alfredo sauce, fresh basil, and goat cheese
Why yes, I’m still on the pumpkin train….I do hope that’s okay. Ha! This time around we’re talking about a savoury pumpkin recipe. Pumpkin pasta!
Pasta noodles are incredibly easy to make from scratch, and there’s something therapeutic about kneading the dough together, and cutting out noodle after noodle. I got my inspo from Tieghan from Half Baked Harvest (if you’re not following her….please do! She is the queen of creative, delicious, meals). You don’t need a pasta machine to make these noodles, although it does make it much quicker! All you really need is some pumpkin puree and flour. So simple, and so delicious. I topped my noodles with a simple (healthy-ish) version of alfredo sauce, but you could use anything - even just a bit of butter. I topped it with fresh basil and goat cheese, which added so much flavour and texture to the dish - so don’t skip them!
2-ingredient pumpkin noodles
recipe idea from: Tieghan - Half Baked Harvest
yields: 6 servings
ingredients
15 oz pumpkin puree (just shy of 2 cups)
4-6 cups all-purpose flour
*flour measurement can vary quite a bit depending on your pumpkin puree consistency. homemade puree tends to be thinner than store-bought, and will need more flour.
directions
In a large bowl, stir together pumpkin puree and 4 cups of flour until a ball forms. Dump onto a floured surface, and knead by hand until dough comes together. If the dough is sticky, add in more flour until it’s completely smooth. We don’t want any stickiness here! (Alternatively, place into a food processor, and pulse until dough forms.)
To make the noodles: follow the directions on your pasta maker. For mine, I split the dough into four or six parts. Then, I feed each one through the pasta maker on the highest thickness setting. Then a thinner one, and then the smallest one. And then I choose the noodle shape, and run it through that. If you’re never used a pasta maker before, read the directions on your maker and look up a video on youtube!
If the dough sticks at all when running it through your pasta maker, knead in a little more flour.
Alternatively: Roll out the dough until you reach the desired thickness (a little thinner than you want your noodles), and use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the noodles.
Now, you can boil the noodles right away, but I also sometimes let mine hang dry for 10-15 minutes before cooking as well.
If using right away: boil noodles just until tender - only 2 to 5 minutes (they cook much quicker than dried pasta).
Otherwise, place in a sealed container and refrigerate until needed. Noodles also freeze well.
alfredo sauce
ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup milk
black pepper - to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
fresh basil
goat cheese
directions
In a medium sized saucepan, heat olive oil at medium heat. Add minced garlic and saute, stirring often, until golden brown. This should only take a couple of minutes, be careful not to burn the garlic!
Turn the garlic down to low, and measure out 2 tablespoons of flower into a small bowl. Slowly incorporate 1 cup of chicken broth into the flour (start off with about a tablespoon of broth, or else you might get lumps!) and then slowly add more.
Add the chicken broth mixture to the saucepan. Add greek yogurt and milk to the saucepan, bring to a boil, stir constantly.
Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 3 minutes, it should begin to thicken. Stir in parmesan cheese.
Pour over noodles and stir together.
Serve with fresh basil (chopped and incorporated, or simply as a garnish), and top with goat cheese.