Alex Guarnaschelli’s Pumpkin Pasta Because Fall Is in the Air
Autumn is a state of mind with Food Network star Alex Guarnaschelli’s pumpkin pasta.
No matter what the calendar says, it’s a great time to enjoy the chef’s satisfying and pumpkinlicious pasta recipe.
Guarnaschelli’s pumpkin pasta requires no fancy ingredients
The chef’s recipe calls for fusilli pasta, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh sage and rosemary, unsalted butter, freshly grated ginger, sliced fresh garlic, canned pure pumpkin puree, dark brown sugar, grated Parmesan cheese, and black pepper.
Guarnaschelli, who’s a co-host on Food Network’s The Kitchen, talked pumpkin on an episode of the program: “The thing about pumpkin is, it’s great if you have fresh pumpkin. You can roast a pumpkin and scoop out the flesh. But canned pumpkin is pretty good.”
The chef’s recipe is a delicious weeknight meal
The chef browns the butter, all 10 tablespoons of it, in a saucepan. It’s moved to a large skillet where the sliced garlic is browned in it. “We’re just building this nice and easy,” Guarnaschelli says in the Food Network video for the recipe.
A “dollop” of the fresh ginger goes in, about two grated teaspoons of it because, as the chef colorfully explains, “the canned pumpkin needs a little hair and makeup.” Speaking of which, the entire can of pumpkin is poured into the garlic and ginger mixture, “pulling it toward the savory. And that’s kind of a fun idea. There are a lot of sweets at Halloween. Here, we’ve got the garlic, a little pepper, salt, all these things are pulling it in a more savory direction.”
She adds “a tiny pinch” of brown sugar, ladling in as well some of the starchy pasta water to the sauce as the fusilli cooks. “We do that to grab a little bit of the starch that’s coming out of the pasta, and pull it back into our dish,” the chef says. “I’m adding that pasta water just to get it to the consistency we want.”
Guarnaschelli stirs in the grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste and adds the cooked fusilli to the sauce, tossing it all together. Topping off this exquisite yet simple pasta dish are the sage and rosemary leaves, which the chef fried first to release their aroma.
Get the complete recipe, video, and reviews on Food Network’s site.
Guarnaschelli’s pumpkin pasta was praised by home cooks
The beauty of the Alex vs. America star’s pumpkin pasta recipe is that its velvety sauce pulls you in, as Food Network reviewers noted.
“AMAZING! Tried it today for the first time and I loved it. (Even my husband who professes to “hate” pumpkin loved it) Definitely a keeper!,” one person wrote.
And other fans of the recipe added, “This is so delish! Don’t skip the frying of the fresh herbs, so worth it!! Comes together so quick, easy weeknight dinner!” and “This was a huge hit for dinner with adults and kids alike. We will be making this again!”
