In the autumn, for me, everything revolves around pumpkins. It’s like that’s the only food that exists. Pumpkin pasta, pumpkin gnocchi, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice … you name it. It’s pumpkin season. So please, don’t judge me cuz I’m sharing another pumpkin recipe (and I believe one of the best pumpkin recipes of this season) – oven-baked creamy pumpkin pasta.

‘Tis a pumpkin season

Apart from the fact it’s nearly Halloween and pumpkins are THE thing of Halloween, autumn for me is about colourful leaves and pumpkins. I’m in love with pumpkins because they allow for so much experimentation, so many flavours, and there are so many varieties of pumpkins!

My favourite is Hokkaido, it’s also the variety my father grows in his garden; this year even I managed to grow a few! It has this gorgeous rich orange colour and a slightly sweet taste that I absolutely adore. Fun fact: I can’t stand two colours – purple and orange. But when it comes to pumpkins, it’s all about that stunning orange.

Oven-baked creamy pumpkin pasta – is it overcomplicated?

Cannot be. Because good taste calls for good practices. And that’s what oven-baked pasta is all about. It’s not the same as cooking pasta first and adding it to the sauce. Oh, no. In this case, we’re cooking pasta IN the sauce from the very start. And we’re baking it. It’s worth it, I promise you.

Everything else is super simple actually. You don’t need fancy ingredients, nor do you need fancy equipment. It’s all pretty straightforward so give it a try. Oh, btw, you can easily use a bigger tin and make enough for the whole family – with basically no extra time needed. It’s the ultimate simple comfort food that impresses.

I’m using vegan masarpone for this recipe. I buy it in Vegansko.si where it’s very affordable. I love using it for cake creams or instead of butter (it has a bit of a buttery taste). I’m super happy when using it in savory recipes – it creates a certain type of creaminess and richness I absolutely adore.

But what if I don’t have these ingredients?

You can swap them, yes. But be aware that if you do, the taste won’t be the same, the texture might not be the same or the whole outcome won’t be the same.

Hokkaido pumpkin: use butternut squash or any other edible pumpkin. As I said, I love Hokkaido pumpkins, but you don’t have to use it if you have something else at hand.

Vegan mascarpone: You can use full fat coconut milk instead of mascarpone, but the taste will be quite different and coconutty.

Rigattone pasta: of course you can use different type of pasta. What I love about this type of pasta is how sauce catches inside of its holes. Play around with other types, no problem.

Do you love pumpkins as much as I do? Then you absolutely need to try this spiced pumpkin pie or pumpkin ragu with stuffed pasta shells.

If you’re making any of my recipes, take a photo and tag me on Instagram @littlekitchenvibes

Oven-baked creamy pumpkin pasta

Creamy and comforting oven-baked pumpkin pasta is decadent and full of flavour. A simple recipe that will impress the whole family.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

• 2 onions
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 500 g Hokkaido pumpkin
• 2 tsp salt
• ⅓ tsp black pepper ground
• ⅓ tsp caraway ground
• ¼ tsp nutmeg ground
• 1 tsp ginger ground
• 200 g vegan mascarpone
• 1 l water
• 400 g rigattone pasta
• nutritional yeast
• fresh parsley

Instructions

 

• First, let's prepare everything: chop onion and garlic, cut pumpkin into dices (doesn't matter how big, just make them equal in size).
• Toss pumpkin pieces into boiling water and cook for about 20 minutes or until soft. We'll blend it, so let it cook thoroughly.
• In the meantime, heat-up olive oil in a pan. Sautée onion and add garlic for the last 2 minutes of sautéeing.
• Warm up your oven to 180°C.
• Put cooked pumpkin into a blender and add 1 l of water. I use the water that pumpkin cooked in and add more if needed. Then add sautéed onion and garlic, salt, and spices. Add 200 g vegan mascarpone. Blend it all well, to get a smooth soup-like liquid. It has to be pretty runny.
• Add rigattone pasta to your baking tin and pour over your thin pumpkin sauce. Make sure that all pasta is covered.
• Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until pasta is cooked.
• Before serving you can sprinkle this oven-baked pasta with fresh parsley and nutritional yeast.

Keyword creamy pumpkin sauce, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin recipe, pumpkins