Pumpkin Pasta – One Last Fall Recipe

So I know winter does not technically start until December 21st, but as the trees rapidly shed their leaves and the football games tick by, I am left feeling like fall is all but over.  This, needless to say, means I had to use this week as an opportunity to squeeze in one more pumpkin recipe.

So far I’ve explored the world of pumpkin beer bread and pumpkin bagels, not to mention the delicious pumpkin cheddar ale soup that my fiancée made.  After she went on a tour of a local pasta company and came back with some samples, I was inspired to try my hand at flavored pasta.

My previous pasta making adventures in our old (very very tiny) apartment are well documented and that experience certainly served me well.  Instead of using semolina flour like in the past I opted to use the finer Caputo 00 flour that I use for pizza dough.  I was very pleased with the smoother pasta that resulted.  Sidenote: If you are interested in getting some 00 flour, I’d look around specialty stores in your area before buying online.  I found it in a nearby grocery store for about 30% less than I had been paying on Amazon.

Like so many pumpkin recipes, I was left wishing the pasta had a more pronounced pumpkin flavor.  I made a pumpkin cream sauce to go with it which was a nice addition, but I think in the future I would add a bit of pumpkin pie spice to enhance the flavor.

Our current kitchen is slightly larger than our old one, large enough that I can roll out pasta dough on the counter rather than having to use the living room table.  For reference, this is about 1/8th of the dough rolled out just before being cut.  And like all great pasta, it was dried while hanging on the handlebars of my exercise bike.  I think it’s a step up from the precarious situation I had in our old place, where pasta was hanging from every cabinet in our kitchen.

Even when dried, this pasta will only take about 3 minutes to cook.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pasta

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pureed cooked pumpkin
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups ’00’ flour (AP Flour also ok)
• 2 tablespoons semolina flour, plus extra for dusting
• 3/4 t salt
• 1/8 t nutmeg

Directions

Mix together the flours, salt, and nutmeg and pour the flour onto a large work surface or in a wide bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and egg.

Push the flour towards the edges to create a well in the middle.  Add the pumpkin-egg mixture into the well and whisk with a fork, gradually incorporating the flour.  Eventually you will want to knead by hand; do this for about 5 minutes until all the flour is mixed in.  Use extra semolina flour if needed.  Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each out to desired length and thickness using a pasta machine or rolling pin.  If rolling by hand, roll up finished sheets and cut to desired length.  Cook fresh or allow to dry (hanging on a rack/hook).  Dried pasta will need to be cooked about 3 minutes to be ready.

Recipe courtesy of Leite’s Culinaria.