Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter/nuttlelex
Fresh bunch of sage
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ kg butternut pumpkin
1 onion
2 cloves
200ml vegetable stock
350g pasta
Cumin seeds
Method
First, make the sage butter/nuttlelex – melt your butter in a pan with a good grinding of black pepper and a sprinkle of cumin seeds.
Then simply add a generous handful of the sage leaves and fry on a low heat until the butter goes a nutty brown and your leaves start to shrivel. Pour into a pot and put the pan back on the heat.
Dice your onion, garlic and pumpkin into small(ish) chunks and pop them in the frying pan with the oil on a medium heat now. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the onions start to soften.
Add the stock, bring it to the bubble and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until your pumpkin is soft. In this time, put your pasta on and cook to your preference.
Now that the pumpkin has cooled a little, blend it until it is smooth and a lovely deep orange with no lumps.
Drain the pasta, retaining one cup of the cooking water, and add the pasta into the pan with the pumpkin. Turn the heat up and mix it all together – if you think it’s a little thick, add the reserved pasta water until you have the consistency you’re happy with.
Plate up, pour over your sage butter and garnish with the leaves – add a good grinding of salt (optional) and pepper and you’re done.
Author
Mimi Biggadike