The pasta with porcini mushrooms and shrimp with pumpkin cream is a first course with a warm, velvety sauce — a surf and turf dish with autumn aromas and flavors.
A refined dish for special occasions; the rigacuori pasta shape makes it perfect for celebrating Valentine’s Day.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
I added the pumpkin in the form of a light pumpkin velouté.
Shrimp — from king prawns to small shrimp
For convenience I more often use king prawns: peeling and cleaning a few king prawns per person is much simpler than peeling and cleaning large quantities of small shrimp.
I used frozen porcini mushrooms — just a handful is enough.
- pumpkin (pulp)
- as needed water
- 1 bouillon cube (vegetable, homemade, optional)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch mixed peppercorns (with grinder)
- king prawns (not fewer than 4 per person)
- 3 oz porcini mushrooms (frozen)
- 1 pinch garlic powder
- 4 sprigs parsley
- 1 small glass (about 1 fl oz) white wine
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch mixed peppercorns (with grinder)
- as needed chopped parsley
- 1 sachet saffron (optional)
- 6 oz rigacuore (or mezze maniche or mezzi paccheri)
Suggested tools
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Chopper or Mixer or Mixer
- 1 Pan with lid preferably glass
Preparation
I added the pumpkin in the form of a light pumpkin velouté.
Clean the pumpkin
Wash the pumpkin.
Cut the pumpkin into slices.
Remove the skin and seeds.Sometimes, for convenience, I buy the pumpkin already cleaned — only the pulp — in a tray.
Cut the pulp into pieces, cubes, or dice: the smaller they are, the faster they’ll cook.
Light pumpkin velouté made with water, without cream and without potatoes
Put the pulp in a saucepan and cover with water.
Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes until the pulp becomes tender.
With the heat off, add a vegetable bouillon cube [optional] and stir until it dissolves into the pumpkin.
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Blend with an immersion blender directly in the saucepan until you obtain a smooth, velvety consistency.
Gently detach the heads from the bodies of the king prawns.
Rinse the heads under running water as if washing small containers until you remove organs and internal residues.
Let them drain in a colander.
Set them aside: they are perfect to flavor a fish broth, to prepare a broth with prawn heads or a prawn sauce.Peel the prawns.
Then:
– using a sharp knife, make an incision along the back of the prawn;
– using a toothpick or the tip of the knife, remove the black vein.
This applies to all shrimp, from king prawns to small shrimp; with small shrimp it can be difficult and sometimes skipped if it’s not very visible.Rinse the peeled prawns thoroughly under running water.
Let them drain.
Pat off excess water with kitchen paper.
Cut them into pieces.I used frozen porcini mushrooms — just a handful is enough.
Rinse the frozen porcini mushrooms under running water to remove any ice residues.
In a pan, heat a sprinkle of garlic powder and a few parsley sprigs to flavor.
Deglaze with a small glass of white wine.Add the porcini mushrooms still frozen to the pan, stir and sauté over high heat until completely thawed — just a few minutes.
Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper, add a generous amount of chopped parsley and mix.
Add the shrimp to the mushrooms, stir and sauté over high heat for 2–3 minutes.
Add the pumpkin velouté [1–2 ladles] and mix.
Bring to a simmer.
Blend until you reach a creamy and thick consistency.
With the heat off add the saffron [optional] and fold in.Cook the pasta al dente, drain and quickly rinse under running water.
Meanwhile, reheat the mushrooms, shrimp and pumpkin.Add the pasta to the pan with the mushrooms, shrimp and pumpkin and toss.
Plate.
Your pasta with porcini mushrooms and shrimp with pumpkin cream is ready.
Enjoy your meal!
The pasta with mushrooms, shrimp and pumpkin is a complete dish; add your portion of vegetables to compose a balanced meal or one-dish plate that helps keep blood sugar stable.
Storage, tips and variations
Meal prep
Make the pumpkin velouté in multiple portions to have a handy supply in the freezer ready for your recipes.
Shrimp — from king prawns to small shrimp
For convenience I more often use king prawns: peeling and cleaning a few king prawns per person is much simpler than peeling and cleaning large quantities of small shrimp.
Use whole-wheat pasta to increase fiber content.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Pumpkin and diabetes
glycemic index — pumpkin of any kind GI 75.
Beyond the glycemic index it is important to consider the glycemic load, which is determined by the quantity of food consumed.
Pumpkin has a high glycemic index but a low glycemic load.
Can I eat pumpkin? This is a question you should ask your diabetologist.
Can people with diabetes eat pumpkin? Follow your dietary plan; ours includes it.
That said, here are my personal notes on the subject.
Usually, in cases of hyperglycemia, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes pumpkin can be consumed without exceeding portion sizes.Should the black vein always be removed?
The black vein is the prawn’s intestine.
Its contents are not toxic but can spoil the dish:
– it is unpleasant to look at and to taste;
– it can contain sand or residues.
Better to remove it always.Shrimp in the diet
Shrimp, from king prawns to small shrimp, are crustaceans low in triglycerides but high in cholesterol; they also contain a small amount of available carbohydrates.
For these reasons they are not suitable for all diets.
In our meal plan shrimp are listed among foods to be consumed “occasionally.”
