Making the Most Out of Pumpkin Season

By Nicole Spain, Registered Dietitian

It’s pumpkin season!  Everywhere you look, you’ll find pumpkin flavor or pumpkin spice added to everything from coffee to cookies.  But have you ever picked your own pumpkins or made fresh pumpkin for a new recipe? If you are looking for a pumpkin patch to pick your own, try searching for one through Local Harvest. Use the Local Harvest website to locate a U-pick farms. 

www.localharvest.org

Local Harvest will also provide locations for the following:

• Farms
• Farmers Markets
• CSA Shares (Community Supported Agriculture)
• Farm to Table Restaurants
• Meat Processors

We like to buy big pumpkins for carving and roasting pumpkin seeds. This year, my 11-year-old daughter wanted to make fresh pumpkin, so we picked up a few pie pumpkins as well.  Besides cutting them in half for her, she prepped and prepared the pumpkins on her own.  After roasting and pureeing the pumpkin, we froze the pumpkin in one-cup servings to make delicious pumpkin dishes throughout the season.  So far, we have made pumpkin pancakes which were a huge hit for breakfast last weekend!  We just added 1 cup of her defrosted pumpkin puree to the pancake mix along with 2 tsp of cinnamon.  They were delicious and had an extra boost of vitamin A from the pumpkin!  

When you think about pumpkin you might think it’s only for dessert, but it’s also delicious in savory recipes like this creamy pumpkin pasta dish.  If you don’t have time to make your own fresh pumpkin puree, just use canned. 

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
¼ tsp salt
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
¼ cup milk (skim or 1%)
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
3 cups cooked fettuccine or any pasta or your choice

Directions:

1. In a large pan add olive oil and garlic, cook on low-medium heat for 1 minute.
2. Add pumpkin, salt, cheese, and milk. Whisk together and heat through for 3-5 minutes. If too thick, add a little bit of pasta water or vegetable stock.
3. Mix with your favorite pasta and serve immediately topped with a little fresh parsley and grated parmesan cheese.

Recipe Adapted from: https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/creamy-pumpkin-pasta-sauce/