Serves 4, 10 minutes preparation, 20-25 minutes cooking
Pumpkin is a fantastic autumn meal ingredient and it goes perfectly with sage to create a truly tasty pasta dish.
Ingredients
- 800g/1lb 12oz pumpkin flesh, chopped into small cubes
- 1 tsp golden caster sugar
- 100g butter
- small bunch sage leaves, about 20, roughly chopped
- 350g dried spaghetti
- juice of 1 lemon
- 50g parmesan, grated
Method
- Tip the pumpkin into a medium-sized saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid. Sprinkle over the sugar and a generous pinch of salt, then drizzle over 6 tablespoons of water. Cover the pan, place on a medium heat and steam the pumpkin, stirring every so often, for 10-15 minutes or until it is soft but still holds its shape. You may need add a spoonful or two of water during the cooking the pan seems dry. Once cooked set the pumpkin aside.
- While the pumpkin is steaming, tip the butter and sage into a small saucepan and heat gently until the butter is foaming but not browning, then turn off the heat. Boil the spaghetti in a big pan of salted water for about 10 minutes (or to the packet’s instructions) until just cooked. When the spaghetti is ready, scoop out a little of the cooking water and set aside in a bowl, then drain and return the spaghetti to the pan.
- Put the sage butter over a high heat until sizzling, then pour in the lemon juice and let it splutter for a second. Tip the pumpkin, melted butter, 3-4 tbsp pasta water and half the parmesan in with the spaghetti and give it a really good stir. Season generously with salt and pepper and serve with the remaining parmesan to sprinkle over.