A pasta bake’s always a welcome, comforting dish. I made a pumpkin pasta & walnut bake a few weeks ago, threw in some fresh herbs and roasted the vegies beforehand to give them that sweet, caramelised taste. The roast pumpkin slightly breaks down into the pasta and cream, making this dish super creamy and delicious with garlic and onion flavours.
Recipe for roast pumpkin, herb & walnut pasta bake:
500g Kent pumpkin, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces
1 medium onion, halved then sliced medium thickness
3-5 cloves garlic, left whole in skins (to taste)
1 scant tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped finely
30mls grapeseed oil
220g bow tie pasta (or any short pasta of your choice)
Sea salt and black pepper
24g walnuts, chopped
3 heaped tblspns chives, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped finely
60g cheddar cheese, grated coarsely
250mls light cooking cream
30g parmesan, grated finely
30mls extra virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 200C. Place baking paper over a large baking tray.
Place pumpkin, onion and garlic on the tray – I find it easier to set the garlic cloves aside in their own area. Sprinkle over chopped rosemary then drizzle over grapeseed oil and rub into vegetables – season with freshly ground sea salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes, or until light golden brown and tender. Turn pan around half-way through if needed, to prevent burning. Remove vegetables from the oven and set aside.
Reduce oven temperature to 180C.
Meanwhile, while vegetables are roasting, cook pasta in boiling, salted water for 11 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, reserve a few tablespoonfuls of pasta water.
Squeeze cooked garlic out of skins. Place near the other roast vegies.
Add pasta to a large, shallow, ceramic baking dish (mine is around 4cm high). Add walnuts, herbs, cheddar cheese and cream then 3-4 tablespoons of pasta water and mix until combined. Gently fold in vegetables until everything is combined – grind over black pepper and sea salt to taste. Scatter over parmesan evenly then drizzle over extra virgin olive oil.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until hot, creamy and bubbling. Scatter over more freshly chopped chives before serving if you like.
Serves: 4 lunch sized servings
This looks like the perfect comfort food. There is nothing like baked carb on carb action and the addition of walnuts sounds perfect 🙂
Yum! Looks awesome Emma…keep the pumpkin love coming Emma. Such a versatile fruit.
Thanks Jem and Amy 🙂 🙂
And Jem, I’ve really been getting into pumpkin lately!
Is the baking temp. the same as the roasting temp of 200C? Or do you bake at 180C?
Hi Kim, the roasting temp for the vegies is 200C, you reduce to 180C after they’re cooked then bake the whole thing at 180C.
I’ll change the instructions a bit to make it more clear.
Hello if I’m not baking it immediately.. Maybe 1 to 2 hrs later.. Can I leave it in room temperature ? Or put in the fridge ?
Can cream be replaced by carnation milk?
Hi Lois
I don’t see why you couldn’t store it in the fridge for a couple of hours before baking; just remove it from the fridge to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before baking though.
Re: carnation milk, I don’t really use it so couldn’t say. I’m thinking no because from memory Carnation milk is quite thin.
Thanks Emma. .. will cream cheese do?
Hi Lois, I’ve sent you an email.
You could use non-fat evaporated milk, I bet. It is thick and I use it as a substitute for heavy cream and it works quite well in dishes like stroganoff.
Is there a set of instructions for the Americans? We don’t use grams or mls. I don’t even have tools to measure that. Tablespoons, teaspoons, cups? Fahrenheit?
Quit being lazy and convert it using Google.
Absolutely delicious. Full of flavour and great for spring. Highly recommend!
I’m really happy you enjoyed it Debra 🙂 , thanks for letting me know.
I made this first for my weekly Friends Dinner and it was a huge hit (I substituted sweet potatoes for pumpkin). I made it again for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. Thanks so much for this recipe!
http://twofeelswrite.com/2017/11/28/thanksgiving/
That’s so great Belle! Sweet potato would make a brilliant sub, I’m glad you all enjoyed it.
Cooked this dish up tonight and it was amazing. The walnuts make it delish. Great vegetarian meal.
What the heck is a Kent pumpkin, and how about about some conversions to farenheit and cups/ounces? Your US readers would appreciate that!
Emma, bravo! What a great idea! Love this. I’m sure this is incredibly delicious!