I was skeptical of this vegan pumpkin pasta during the testing phase. Anytime I’ve tried it before, it turned out too sweet. The thing is, in previous iterations, I tried it with almond or coconut milk, or nondairy cheese, or blended cashews – all bad ideas. Those tend to make already sweet pumpkin into a dessert instead of a main.
In this case, vegetable broth, olive oil, and lemon juice make up the base of the sauce along with the roasted pumpkin. Adding a little pasta water, what’s left after cooking the noodles, is the secret here. The starchiness keeps the sauce creamy without adding any unwanted sweetness.
This recipe was inspired by my pumpkin & mushroom shepherd’s pie. Essentially, I wanted the same thing in pasta form, because it’s awesome. And although I love some mac and cheese, this is a bit more refined and less “give me carbs now or I’ll die” kind of thing. Both good, just different.
To keep the mushrooms from getting rubbery, they’re roasted instead of pan-fried, along with garlic, spices, and herbs. The garlic is blended into the sauce. Then the pasta, sauce, and roasted mushrooms get mixed up along with a little rucola, and that’s it! I like to top it with some walnut pieces but you do you.
You can cook the mushrooms while the noodles cook and everything is cooked in about 20 minutes. With pretty minimal prep time you’re about 30 minutes away from some vegan pumpkin pasta. Not bad, right?!
I do roast the pumpkin myself ahead of time, which adds a bit to the time, but then you have extra pumpkin. Canned works too (but you can’t find it over here). Just cut the pumpkin in half, plop it down onto a baking sheet cut-side down, and roast in the oven for about an hour or until soft. Scoop the seeds out, then the flesh, and use it how you like.
If you’re not already at your pumpkin limit, here are some great recipes:
Pumpkin & Chocolate Layer Cake
Pumpkin Salad
Baked Pumpkin Falafel
Pumpkin Spice Latte
Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Cookies
Maple Pumpkin Pudding Chômeur
Creamy Pumpkin Polenta
Paleo Pumpkin Muffins
Maybe you have an overload of pumpkin in your garden? In any case, it’s abundant at this time of year, and it never hurts to have a little more inspiration.
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Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Pasta
This creamy vegan pumpkin pasta with roasted mushrooms, garlic, and herbs is fall on a plate and total cold-weather comfort food. Done in 30 minutes, it's a great easy weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 200 grams / 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, skin on
- 2-3 / 1 tsp sage leaves, minced
- 1 sprig / 1 tsp rosemary, minced
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 package / 500 grams pasta
- 60 grams / 2 cups rucola or other baby greens
- 1 handful walnuts, broken into small pieces
Pumpkin Sauce
- 400 grams / 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 3 cloves roasted garlic (roasted with the mushrooms)
- 180 ml / 3/4 cup vegetable broth
- 125 ml / 1/2 cup pasta water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Juice 1 lemon, ~3 tablespoons
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt , to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F. Place the mushrooms, garlic, herbs, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper onto a large pan and mix until the mushrooms are coated.
- Roast for 18-20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are golden. While the mushrooms are in the oven, cook your pasta in well salted water according to package instructions. Make sure to reserve 1/2 cup of the water when you drain the pasta.
- To serve, add the sauce, mushrooms, and rucola into the pot with the hot pasta. Stir to coat, and serve hot, with walnuts if desired.
Pumpkin Sauce
- Place all of the ingredients into a blender, and blend on high speed until smooth. Alternatively, use a stick blender. Taste and season further if needed.
Notes
• I like to prep the sauce to be ready to blend as soon as the pasta is cooked so that it doesn't have time to cool down. I use a stick blender, so I toss everything into a bowl, then as soon as I have the water, it's added and quickly blended.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 555Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 723mgCarbohydrates: 78gFiber: 14gSugar: 16gProtein: 17g
This data is provided by a calculator and is a rough estimation of the nutritional information in this recipe.
Jen says
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Added some roasted butternut squash with the mushrooms and omitted the oil from the pumpkin sauce and it still tasted great!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I’m so happy to hear that, thanks Jen!
Katie says
Is this a dish that reheats well?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Katie! I think it does, and just reheat it on the stove with a splash of nondairy milk. The noodles do tend to soak up a bit of the sauce overnight though so it won’t be as saucy.
L says
Do you make your own pumpkin puree? Would you please give instructions for that? Great recipe, autumn on a plate! : )
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I do! I just slice a pumpkin in half and roast, cut side down, on a lined baking tray for about 40 minutes at 200C. It depends on the size of the pumpkin, until fork soft. Then scoop out the seeds, set aside, scoop out the flesh, mash, and there you have it! I could do a full post about it, though.
Gillian says
Is the 400g the weight of the puree or the pumpkin? How much whole pumpkin makes 2cups of puree?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
400 grams / 2 cups is the amount of puree needed. 1/2 a medium pumpkin should make about as much as you need, but extra can be used in plenty of different recipes.
Rachel says
I really wanted to like this recipe. We’re into autumn now here in Australia and I have been craving a pumpkin based pasta for a few weeks. Also thought it might be a good cheap addition to the meal rotation. Unfortunately I just found this fairly bland. I might try it again but cutting the pumpkin into smaller cubes when I roast it… and see if that helps.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Rachel, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love the recipe! Unfortunately the pumpkin does need to be quite flavourful or the dish can suffer a bit. I hope you try again : )
Kerry Tippett says
Yum, my pumpkin wasn’t very pumpkiny so I added a sweet potato, nooch and hemp seeds.