Hello pasta lovers! Autumn leaves pasta or foglie d’autunno (in Italian) is a fantastic autumn (as assumed from the name) and winter dish. I love pasta and this pasta is amazing. With its shape and colours, it really resembles the tree leaves in the fall. How cool is that? I love it!
Moreover, you don’t need to be really creative in the kitchen to create an amazing, good-looking dish. The autumn leaves pasta will do all the job. Hehehe. In addition to it, I made a silky pumpkin-tomato sauce. With pumpkin being a fall ”fruit” makes it a winning combination.
Roasted pumpkin and garlic (oh yeah, it is always a must) make a delicious, thick purée. It was almost too thick (well, I could still eat it with a spoon directly out of the bowl). In order to make it less thick, I added some tomato sauce. The result was superb! This sauce it is perfect for this short autumn leaves pasta.
You simply have to try this dish, especially if you are a big pasta fan as I am. By the way, if you will have some leftovers of the pumpkin sauce, you can store it in the fridge up to a couple of days and use it as a dip, dressing or sauce.
Ingredients for about 4 portions of autumn leaves pasta:
- 150 g pumpkin (Hokkaido)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 yellow onion
- 200 ml tomato sauce
- rosemary
- olive oil
- salt
- 280 g autumn leaves pasta
First, wash, clean and cut the pumpkin into wedges. If you use a Hokkaido pumpkin there is no need to peel it. Preheat the oven to 200º C. Lay the pumpkin wedges on a baking sheet (covered with parchment paper) together with the garlic cloves and onion.
Garlic doesn’t need to be peeled. In fact, simply cut off the ends. Onion, on the other hand, needs to be peeled and cut into wedges. Drizzle with some olive oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and put to bake for about 25-30 minutes or until soft.
Second, place the roasted pumpkin, garlic (simply squeeze it out of the skin) and onion in a plastic container and purée it. Then transfer it to a pot together with some drops of olive oil. Heat it up and slowly stir in the tomato sauce. Keep adding until you reach the desired consistency. Also, add some fresh rosemary.
Third and last step, put the pasta to cook. The autumn leaves pasta is short and a little thicker, therefore it won’t overcook too easily. Cook them for 10-12 minutes. However, try to keep an eye on the time and keep it “al dente”.
Finally, serve the autumn leaves pasta either on a white or colourful plate. It will make a great effect on both. A quick tip: Don’t go too big with the sauce. You don’t want the pasta to swim in it. I put two spoons of the sauce at the bottom of the plate and two on top of the pasta. You might add some cheese or some more rosemary on top.
Enjoy!
