Pumpkin and Mushroom Pasta with Gorgonzola

This dish was one of Matt's choices for dinner last week. He figured it would be a great use of the roast pumpkin we had in the freezer plus I think he was attracted to the gorgonzola in it.

I had planned on following the recipe exactly as it was written just substituting the pumpkin puree with our roasted pumpkin but ended up having to make some other changes. First we used less pasta than originally called for since we try to stay around 3 ounces per serving. Then we found that the sauce was really dry & needed quite a bit of the pasta water to thin it out, I'm not sure if this was because we didn't use pumpkin puree. We found the dish needed something at the end to brighten the flavors a bit. Matt though perhaps our gorgonzola was a little mild. He added some grated Parmesan to his while I just added a little extra salt. In the end it was really tasty & I thought very pretty with the green of the sage against the yellow sauce.

Pumpkin & Mushroom Pasta with Gorgonzola
(adapted from Closet Cooking)

1/2 T olive oil
1 small onion, sliced thin
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
6 oz orecchiette pasta
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 T fresh sage, chopped
1/4 t red pepper flakes
pinch of nutmeg
1 c roasted pumpkin
2 T heavy cream
2 oz gorgonzola, crumbled
salt & pepper
1 T butter
handful of fresh sage leaves
Parmesan, grated (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions & mushrooms then cook until caramelized, about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Cook the pasta according the the package. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid, & set aside.

Add the garlic, chopped sage, red pepper flakes & nutmeg to the onions & mushrooms. Sauté for about a minute.

Put the roast pumpkin & cream in a food processor & purée. Add to the skillet along with the gorgonzola. Add enough cooking water to get a sauce-like consistency (we had to add about 1 cup of water). Add the drained pasta to the skillet & heat through. Salt & pepper to taste.

While the pasta is heating melt the butter in a small skillet. Add the sage leaves & fry until crisp.

Plate the pasta & sprinkle the sage leaves & Parmesan, if using, on top.

2 servings

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