Pumpkin pasta

This pasta is very suprising: sweet pumpkin is roasted with spices and then blended up into the most creamy, delicious sauce. I find pasta the most comforting food, and especially when it is served in a creamy sauce 😀 I add percorini cheese to the sauce and grate it over at the end, but for a vegan version you can easily swap this for nutritional yeast.

For a low FODMAP meal, whatch out which type of pumpkin you choose: Japanese pumpkins are low in FODMAP’s, but butternut squash have moderate amounts, so look out for the Japanse type, which is round and orange.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)
Vegetable oil (like olive, sunflower or coconut)
1 medium sized pumpkin (orange Japanese)
1 teaspoon paprika powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 cup of almond or soy milk (or any other milk)
50 gram pecorini or parmesan (or 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast for vegan version)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (optional)
300 gram of wholegrain spelt pasta (or any other choice of pasta)
chopped nuts or pine nuts (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Cut the pumpkin in halve, take out the seeds and cut into small pieces. Spread the pieces out on a baking tray and sprinkle them with the olive oil, paprika, cumin, turmeric, salt and black pepper. Mix the oil, spices and pumpkin so that all the pieces are coated. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until tender.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
• Take the pumpkin out of the oven, and take half of the pieces aside and put the other half of the pumpkin pieces in to a food processor (if you don’t have a food processor, this also works with a hand blender, that’s how I do it!). Add the cheese, milk and tahini and mix until you have a smooth sauce. If necessary, add some water to the mixture to make the sauce more liquid. Taste the sauce, and add some more salt, pepper or spices to taste.
• When the pasta is cooked, drain the water and put the paste back in the pan. Add the pumpkin sauce and mix it together with pasta. Again, if needed you can add some water to the mixture to make the sauce more liquid. Add the leftover pumpkin pieces and serve it straightaway, with grated cheese (or nutritional  yeast). If you want you can add some pine nuts or coarsely chopped nuts for some bite.