If you're looking for a creamy pasta to serve up over the holidays, this one is it. A pumpkin pasta recipe with fried sage leaves and heavy whipped cream. It's got bits of basil and garlic as well. An easy pasta recipe for winter time.
Gluten-free pasta can be a bit tricky to work with. The way you cook it to perfection is different from the process of regular cooked pasta. If you need some help in making a perfect, al dente GF noodle, check out my post on How To Boil Gluten-Free Pasta. I've got tips in there for you that show how to do it the right way. In general, the method goes for most types of noodles.
One of the best dishes I had this Thanksgiving was a recipe I got from the Food Network. It's a Bobby Flay recipe, titled 11-layer potato gratin. This dish is absolutely amazing. I made it during my Friendsgiving dinner this year and it was an absolute hit. Hardly any ingredients were added to make this dish. But the heavy cream and sage were, by far, the highlights of Bobby's potato gratin recipe.
I thought, why not use that basic concept in a pumpkin pasta recipe? I used heavy cream of course, along with fried sage. But instead of putting this on potatoes, I added it to penne.
Fried sage is VERY easy to make. You simply heat up a small sauce pan with oil. I use olive oil for just about everything, but you can use canola oil for this if you have it. Make sure your leaves are rinsed and DRIED. If they're wet, the oil could pop and you don't want to burn yourself! So, make sure those fuzzy leaves are dry. Once the oil is hot, stem the leaves and throw them on the oil for about 25 seconds. You don't need to turn them. Then grasp gently with tongs, and place them to cool on a plated paper towel. Sprinkle a bit of Kosher salt on them while hot.
You can fry your herb once the pasta is done, as it takes no time at all. For this dish, I added pumpkin to the heavy cream, as well as some minced garlic. This recipe is SO good. It's thick and creamy, yet clean and rich. So much flavor with so few ingredients. Win win!
I'm so excited to start getting up all of my Christmas decor this week. I already have a good amount up, since I decorated with Thanksmas Decor over Thanksgiving. Here's the post on how i did this if you need ideas for next year! It won't be hard at all to switch over to Christmas decorations. So glad!
Thanksgiving was hard. I aint gonna lie. Without mom, it just didn't feel the same. But we all had a blast and gave a toast to her. Dad really misses her and I never realized how hard the holidays can be without a loved one. I think I did her justice though, with the staple green beans with cheese recipe of hers. It seems everyone liked it. I couldn't eat it because I made it her original way, with gluten and all. I wanted to make everything the way she used to do when we were young.
I'm thinking mom would have LOVED this pumpkin pasta recipe. I KNOW she would have loved it! If you make this, be sure to tag it on INSTAGRAM with #feedingglutenfree! I wanna see it and hear what you think!
Oh, and why fried sage? Because I ALWAYS fry certain herbs when topping a dish with them. Sage is strong, and can be chewy. The flavor is quite deep. So, frying in oil really helps break it apart when people go for portions of it. It's much easier to eat this way, and tastes even better. Occasionally, I do finely chop it and mix with butter to put beneath the skin of a turkey. Or for soups and especially stuffing. But other than that, frying is the way to go.
WINTER GLUTEN-FREE PUMPKIN PASTA RECIPE WITH FRIED SAGE
Ingredients
- 12 ounces gluten-free penne pasta cooked & drained (Barilla has a gluten-free pasta)
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil extra for frying sage
- 1-2 garlic cloves minced
- 2-3 basil leaves finely chopped
- ½ to ¾ heavy cream Wegmans is labeled gluten-free
- 3-4 tablespoons pumpkin 100% puree
- 1-2 tablespoons water or more, if pasta sauce remains too thick
- Kosher salt to taste
- Ground black peppercorn to taste
- Sugar a couple pinches to even out taste
- 4-6 sage leaves fried (see below for directions)
Instructions
- While gluten-pasta boils, make the sauce and fried sage leaves. For gluten-free pasta boiling instructions, see recipe here.
- for pumpkin sauce:
- In a sauce pan, cook garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium low for approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Add basil, cream, pumpkin, water, salt and pepper, then stir thoroughly.
- Heat sauce for a few minutes, then add sugar and stir thoroughly. Be mindful not to boil sauce.
- Once sauce is hot, turn off heat. Add hot, drained pasta to the sauce, then stir to coat. Cover until serving.
- for fried sage:
- In a small sauce pan or skillet, heat olive oil. Olive oil should stand about ¼ inch high.
- Once hot, throw on dry sage leaves for about 25 seconds to fry. The sage will float.
- The oil will bubble and could pop, so stand back.
- After allotted time, take leaves out of oil with tongs carefully, then place on plated lined with paper towel.
- Sprinkle with Kosher salt then place over top of pasta bowl before serving.
Karly says
Not super familiar with Gluten-Free pasta but this looks delicious! I'll need to try it!
Jen says
Thank you Karly! I hope you get to try it! The ingredients are flexible where you can put more of what you like in if you want, and in the post I share a link that shows you the best way to make Gluten-Free pasta shine!! 😉
Silpa says
Looks amazing. Can't wait to try.
Jen says
Thank you so much! I hope you get to try it!