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Pasta e zucca
Pasta e zucca: Neapolitan pumpkin melted with garlic and rosemary, with pasta cooked in it
When the long Neapolitan pumpkins appear in autumn markets, pasta e zucca becomes the weekday lunch in Naples and around the Bay. The pumpkin is cooked down in olive oil with garlic and rosemary until it turns into a soft orange sauce, then short pasta is cooked in the same pot with a little water so it comes out velvety, sweet and peppery. Children love it, and it needs nothing more than grated cheese. The usual mistake is using a watery pumpkin, which never thickens; choose a dense, deep-orange squash such as butternut or delica. Chef's tip: save a few small cubes of pumpkin and add them later, so you get both a creamy sauce and soft pieces to bite into.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlicpeeled and lightly crushed
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 ½ lb dense pumpkin or butternut squashpeeled, 1–2 cm cubes
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 ¾ cups hot waterkept on a low simmer
- 1 ⅜ oz Parmesangrated; traditionally made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese for a vegetarian dish
- ¼ tsp black pepper
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Warm 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a wide pot over a medium heat with 2 cloves garlic and 1 sprig fresh rosemary for 2 minutes, until the garlic is golden. Lift out the garlic.
2 minStep 2: Add three-quarters of the 1 ⅛ lb dense pumpkin or butternut squash with 1 tsp salt and 200 ml of the ¾ cup hot water. Cover and cook for 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until it breaks into a thick purée.
12 minStep 3: Add the rest of the 6 oz dense pumpkin or butternut squash, 11 ½ oz short pasta (ditalini or pasta mista) and a ladle of water. Cook for 10–12 minutes, stirring and adding water a ladle at a time, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce is creamy and orange.
12 minStep 4: Remove the rosemary. Off the heat, stir in 1 ⅜ oz Parmesan and ¼ tsp black pepper, rest for 1 minute and serve.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 450 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 72 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pasta e zucca take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of parmesan?
- Grana Padano or pecorino, same amount.
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