Pumpkin Rigatoni with Crispy Pancetta

Every Fall, I always need a way to use up that little bit of canned pumpkin that is leftover from making pumpkin cake and pumpkin bread. So, a few years ago, I began making this very simple pumpkin sauce to add to pasta which uses just a little pumpkin puree for the sauce and the pancetta and heavy cream do the rest of the work.

The end result is a delicious Fall pasta that I can have on the table in under 30 minutes. So every time you plan on making a pumpkin cake, put this delicious pasta on the menu as well.

What You Will Need

• Pumpkin puree:You can use homemade or canned.
• Pancetta: You. can use bacon if you prefer.
• Rigatoni Pasta: I use boxed rigatoni from the store or sometimes make fresh rigatoni with my kitchen aid pasta extruder and both work great. Just follow cooking times for al dente for whichever one you use.
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt

How To Make

• Crisp up pancetta: In olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, crisp up the pancetta.
• Whisk in pumpkin and cream: Mix the pureed roasted acorn squash into the pan then add the mascarpone, and mix until smooth. The heat will help the mascarpone melt into the sauce. The sauce will be really thick at this point and that is ok. You will thin it later with pasta water.
• Cook pasta: Cook the rigatoni until al dente and make sure to reserve about 1 cup of pasta water.
• Assemble: Toss the cooked pasta into the creamy pumpkin sauce and if the pasta sauce is too thick, add a little pasta water. This pasta is so good that I ate ½ of it before even getting the picture 🙂

Variations and substitutions

• Feel free to use regular bacon.
• Swap out pumpkin for pureed squash. Both butternut squash and acorn squash work great.
• Use another dairy for the sauce. If you don't have heavy cream, try whole fat milk, or mascarpone cheese.
• Thicken or thin the sauce to your liking: If you like a super creamy sauce like me, add more cream. If you like it thicker, use less.