Healthy Creamy Kabocha Pumpkin Pasta Food

CREAMY PUMPKIN PASTA

Steps:

• Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion and garlic until onion is translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add pumpkin puree, vegetable broth, half-and-half, parsley, nutmeg, white pepper, salt, and black pepper; cook and stir until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; cook the rotini at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes; drain and transfer to a serving bowl. Top pasta with pumpkin sauce and Parmesan cheese.

HEALTHY CREAMY KABOCHA (PUMPKIN) PASTA

Steps:

• Peel kabocha (pumpkin) or sweet potatoes and cut into 1cm cubes.
• Microwave 4 to 5 min (I steamed).
• Puree the cooked kabocha, consumme, and milk in a blender/food processor.
• Cook spaghetti acording to package directions, in boiling water with a pinch of salt.
• Make the topping.
• Slice the onion vertically
• Remove bottoms of stems of shimeji and cut into 1-cm lengths.
• Heat oil in frying pan and saute the onion over low-medium heat, until it is wilted.
• Add shimeji mushrooms.
• Heat pureed kabocha mixture into pan.
• Add basil.
• Add water if necesssary.
• Salt to taste or (swweet n low).
• Turn off heat and place on mixed spaghetti.
• If desired, make a well in the center of each portion, and place some topping vegetables.
• If doing my variation, just heat pan and heat the pureed sweet potato mixture.

CREAMY PUMPKIN PASTA

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute the onion and garlic in butter, over medium heat, until soft, not brown.
• Whisk in the pumpkin, broth, creams and seasonings to taste.
• Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until al dente.
• Drain pasta and stir into pumpkin, simmering 2-3 minutes more until thick.
• Stir in parsley and garnish with romano, more parsley and pumpkin seeds if desired.

KABOCHA (CREAMY JAPANESE SQUASH SOUP)

Steps:

• Wash the exterior of the kabocha squash. Cut in half and remove seeds and inner strands of the squash.
• Place kabocha on a microwave-safe plate and heat in microwave for 1 to 2 minutes, depending on the power of your microwave. This helps to soften the kabocha just a bit.
• Cut the kabocha into thin slices and remove exterior skin. Set slices aside.
• In a medium pot, melt butter and sauté onion slices until translucent and softened.
• Add kabocha and sauté together with onions until the kabocha is cooked.
• Pour water and add chicken bouillon powder in the pot. (Note: Chicken broth may be substituted for the bouillon and water.) Simmer on low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until kabocha is softened.
• Either use an immersion hand blender to blend the vegetables with the broth, or allow the mixture to cool slightly and then pour it into a traditional blender to puree, then add it back to the pot.
• On medium-high heat, add milk to the kabocha mixture and bring to a boil, constantly stirring the soup. Turn off the heat, and season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and serve immediately. Garnish with additional freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley.