Penne with pumpkin, bacon, and dried porcini mushrooms, an easy and delicious first course, perfect to enjoy on the first days of autumn.
For this recipe, I used dried porcini mushrooms that I did not soak beforehand, but I softened them directly in the pan with two ladles of pasta cooking water and cooked them together with the pumpkin cubes. You can easily “soak” them first in lukewarm water and squeeze them when adding them to the mushrooms.
Below, I leave you other recipes to use pumpkin that might inspire you if you also love pumpkin.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 11 oz penne rigate (or other short pasta as desired.)
- 10 oz pumpkin
- 3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 0.7 oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 3 ladles water (cooking)
- 3 oz smoked bacon
- 1 pinch fine salt (for seasoning)
- 1 tsp coarse salt (for the pasta)
- 0.7 oz onion
Tools
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Wok
- 1 Pot
- 1 Pan
Steps
To make the Penne with pumpkin, bacon, and dried porcini mushrooms, first clean the pumpkin by removing the skin and seeds.
Cut it into fairly small cubes.
In a pan, sauté the chopped onion, add the pumpkin, and let it color on low heat for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water, and before draining, keep three ladles of cooking water.
Add the dried mushrooms to the pumpkin and add one ladle of hot water at a time. When the first is absorbed, add the next, and so on. Slowly, the mushrooms will absorb the water and become softer, like the pumpkin. Cover with a lid and stir occasionally.
In a separate pan, fry the bacon without adding fat.
Add the drained pasta and mix well. If the sauce is too dry, add another ladle of hot water.
When serving, garnish each plate with bacon.
Finish with a nice sprinkle of grated cheese.
