Pasta. A decade ago, pasta was hardly anywhere on the horizon. I have had macaroni in one form or another since I was a kid. But my dumb self never caught on to the fact that it is a kind of pasta.
Anyway, in the last 10 years, pasta has become a staple in my kitchen and is cooked at least once a week. In college, tossing a bunch of shrimp or chicken fajita strips and veggies along with chili flakes was the quick usual dinner. An elaborate cheese sauce was a luxury that took up a lot of time making and cleaning and was not an option.
But I can do that now. Try different sauce preparations and different types of pasta.
So when Del Monte India announced a pasta competition with a culinary tour of Italy as the prize, I had to enter. The prize is just too huge to miss out on a chance to visit Italy and taste the local food. Not to mention actually learning how to make pasta from local Italian people.
Tomato and Basil sauce is the most simple pasta sauce from Italy. But even if the recipe is the same, the tomato in Italy is hugely different than the tomato that grows in India and it is impossible to get the authentic or traditional taste of a dish, even if you follow it to the last detail.
After putting in a lot of thought on the requirements of the competition: authentic, yet innovative, pumpkin with lamb or goat meat turned out to be the dish of choice.
Lamb or goat is easily available in India. It is almost September, and autumn or Fall is around the corner. Pumpkin is the perfect Fall vegetable to use in a recipe.
My neighborhood pizza shop used to have a yummy Lamb Bolognese pizza. Since then I discovered that the Bolognese sauce, named after Bologna, is very famous in Italy. What could be better than minced meat for a meat eater? And so I hit upon the idea of a pumpkin based bolognese sauce.
The Bolognese or Ragout part is very traditional. Using roasted pumpkin instead of tomato as the base is my innovation. Then there is the herb part. You need to have some herbs that would complement lamb and roasted pumpkin.
Still on the innovation bandwagon, I stuck upon the thought of using Kasuri Methi as the herb of choice. The taste of methi is very Indian and goes well with both roasted pumpkin and lamb. But this would make the dish fusion and not ‘authentic’. So I discarded that idea.
After some deliberation and discussion and dilly dallying on Sage Vs. Rosemary, I decided to stick with the traditional combination of lamb and rosemary for my Roasted Pumpkin Bolognese Pasta.
Roasted Pumpkin Bolognese Pasta – Equipment, Time, Servings etc.
Equipment
Oven or OTG
Blender
Thick Nonstick pan
Pasta Pot with insert
Prep Time 45-60 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 Large Servings
Roasted Pumpkin Bolognese Pasta Ingredients
5 Cups Pumpkin Cubes
8-10 Roasted Garlic cloves
100 Gms Goat/Lamb mince
3-4 Twigs of Rosemary
1/2 Cup chopped Onions
1/2 Cup White Wine
1 Tbsp Red Chili flakes
pinch of nutmeg
2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp Cream
2 Cups uncooked Del Monte Penne Pasta
Salt to taste
Roasted Pumpkin Bolognese Pasta Method
1. Peel and cut the Pumpkin in 1/2 inch cubes
2. Toss the pumpkin in 1 tsp Olive Oil and a pinch of salt
3. Spread the Pumpkin cubes in a baking tray along with a Garlic bulb
4. Place the baking tray in the topmost shelf of your oven and roast for 40 min at 210 deg. centigrade
5. Once done, allow the pumpkin and garlic to cool
6. Puree the pumpkin and 5 garlic cloves in blender to form a smooth paste
7. In a saute pan, heat 1 tbsp of Olive Oil, add a twig of Rosemary, and saute the lamb mince for a couple of minutes until it changes color and renders fat. This is called browning the meat.
8. Add the chopped onions and cook until the onions are translucent
9. Add half cup wine to deglaze the pan, and then add the pumpkin puree
10. Add few more strands of Rosemary and cook for a couple of minutes
11. In a pasta pot, heat 8 cups of water with a good amount of salt
12. Add the pasta and cook for 10 min. If you are not using the Del Monte pasta, please read the instructions on your pasta packet.
13. Make sure that the pasta is cooked al dente and has a bite.
14. Save a cup of the Pasta water and drain the remaining water
15. Mix the Pasta and 3/4 of your pumpkin sauce with the pasta
16. Serve in a Pasta plate and top with a dollop of the Roasted Pumpkin Bolognese sauce and shredded fresh Parmesan cheese.
My Roasted Pumpkin Bolognese uses all authentic elements of Italian cooking like extra virgin olive oil, crushed red pepper and rosemary. And using sweet roasted pumpkin balances the meat making this a robust sauce that can be served with any kind of pasta. I would suggest spaghetti or bucatini too for this sauce. I have used Penne pasta from Del Monte because it was the pasta sent to me.
This dish is my idea of Italy on a plate and I am ready to fly to Italy for my #DelMonteItalianEscapades.