Rigatoni with pumpkin is a very simple vegetarian dish to prepare, quick and, at the same time, tasty. It’s a light first course that even children, who generally don’t like vegetables, will enjoy. We can customize this dish by adding bacon or even chili pepper, particularly appreciated by those who love stronger flavors.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
- 12.3 oz Pumpkin (already cleaned)
- 8 oz Rigatoni
- 1 clove Garlic
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- to taste Fine salt
- to taste Parsley (chopped)
- to taste Pepper (ground)
- 1 tbsp Dry white wine
- to taste Chili pepper (optional)
Preparation
Remove the skin from our pumpkin, cut it into pieces, wash it, and let the excess water drain.
Meanwhile, sauté the garlic in its skin on a low flame with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (and chili pepper if you like).
As soon as the garlic starts sizzling, remove it, turn up the flame, and add the pumpkin pieces. Stir from time to time with a wooden fork and let the pumpkin sauté for about ten minutes.
Meanwhile, bring water to a boil for the pasta.
Add wine to the pumpkin, and when the alcohol has completely evaporated, salt to taste, lower the flame and add 1/2 cup of hot water (taken from the unsalted pasta cooking water). Cover and let cook until the pumpkin is soft or mashed.
When the rigatoni is al dente, drain and mix well with the pumpkin sauce (keep a bit of pasta water in case the sauce is too dry). Add chopped parsley and serve our rigatoni with pumpkin.
An extra idea. Depending on the taste, you can mash part of the cooked pumpkin with a fork to make the sauce of our rigatoni with pumpkin creamier and more enveloping, especially if you are not using grooved or rough pasta.
