Ingredients
1.5C rigatoni pasta or similar uncooked
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
12 fresh sage leaves
1/4C. pine nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1C. pure pumpkin
2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup), plus more for serving
1/4C. cream
1/8 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
Directions
1. Cook pasta per package directions. Reserve 1 cup cooking water; drain pasta and return to pot.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add sage and cook until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel–lined plate; when cool, crumble into pieces. Toss together sage, pine nuts, and lemon zest in a bowl.
3. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, shallot, and garlic to saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Add pumpkin, Parmesan, heavy cream, nutmeg, and 1/2 cup reserved pasta water. Cook until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt. (If desired, use an immersion blender or standard blender to puree until smooth.) Add pasta and stir to combine (add more pasta water if sauce seems too thick). Serve sprinkled with Pine Nut Gremolata.
Serves 4
Things You Didn’t
Know About
Pumpkins
The word
“pumpkin”
showed up for
the first
time in the fairy
tale Cinderella.
French explorer Jacques Cartier recorded finding ‘gros melons,’ in the St Lawrence area of North America in 1554. It was then translated into English as ‘pompions.’ It wasn’t until the 17th century that they were first referred to as pumpkins with the publication of ‘Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre,’written by Charles Perrault in 1697 which is the original Cinderella story.
You can eat
the whole plant!
Suited for New Zealand’s temperate climate, they take between 90 and 120 days to grow, so start planting in November or December. Every part of the plane it edible, the seeds are high in iron and they can be roasted to eat. The flowers that grow on pumpkin vines are also edible and chop up the leaves and use as you would any other green leafy vegetable.
The Original
Jack-o’-lanterns
were made with
turnips and potatoes
by the Irish.
Americans delight in the tradition that is carving out and making a face of the very best pumpkin they can find. But the tradition didn’t originate there. Their origin comes from an Irish myth about Stingy Jack, who tricked the Devil for his own monetary gain. When Jack died, God didn’t allow him into heaven, and the Devil didn’t let him into hell, so Jack was sentenced to roam the earth for eternity. In Ireland, people started to carve demonic faces out of turnips to frighten away Jack’s wandering soul. When Irish immigrants moved to the U.S., they began carving jack-o’-lanterns from pumpkins, which were more commonly available.