Pumpkin Pasta with Halloumi
Its pumpkin time, which may not mean much to anyone other than pumpkin carving and pumpkin soup, not any more.
This pasta dish is an easy way in for those who haven’t tried pumpkin in anything else but soup.
Its full of veg with a creamy pumpkin sauce, with the added benefit of charred halloumi giving it that salty and sweet flavour profile that I love.
I’ve used green pepper, leeks and courgette, but I’ve never been averse to changing things up, so instead of going green, try going red instead.
Red pepper, red onion and a handful of chopped cherry tomatoes work so well in this dish.
So, go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Lay the halloumi on top of the pasta for the perfect salty hot.
What You Need
425g (1 Tin) Pumpkin Puree
500g Dried Pasta Shapes – Use whichever shapes you prefer
400g Halloumi Cheese – Sliced
250g Mascarpone Cheese
50g Parmesan Cheese Grated
2 Large Leeks
1 Large Courgette
1 Large Green Pepper
Oil for frying
Malden Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Sauce before adding the cooked vegetables.
How It’s Done
Cut the roots and the tough leaves off the leeks.
Run the leeks under running water so that any dirt runs away.
Roughly chop the clean leek and set aside until needed
Wash and dry the courgette.
Cut the top and bottom off the courgette and roughly chop it.
Set it aside until needed.
Cut the green pepper in half and take all the seeds from the inside.
Roughly chop the green pepper and then set it aside until needed.
Put a little oil into a frying pan, add the chopped leeks and the green pepper.
Add a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper and let them cook on a medium heat until the leeks are soft and transparent and the pepper is soft – around 5-7 minutes – See Tip Box
Stirring occasionally
Add the chopped courgette to the pan and let it cook for a further 5 minutes
Once cooked, set the pan aside until needed.
Heat up a clean frying pan on medium heat, and once hot place the slices of halloumi into the pan and cook until brown, turning over to brown the other side too.
Once cooked, remove them from the pan and set them aside until needed.
Put the pumpkin puree and the mascarpone cheese into a large saucepan and give it a good mix together.
Gently heat the mixture until it is hot and combined together well.
Add the cooked vegetables to the pumpkin sauce and give a good stir to mix well.
It will be a thick sauce at this stage – See Tip Box
Switch the heat off and set it aside until the pasta is cooked.
Place a large pot of water on the heat, add 2 tsp of salt to the water and bring the water to a boil.
Add the pasta shapes to the boiling water and cook it according to the packet instructions.
Ladle some of the pasta water into the pumpkin sauce until the sauce is thin enough to stir through the pasta – See Tip Box
Drain the remaining water away into a colander.
Tip the drained pasta into the sauce and vegetable mixture and mix together really well.
Spoon the pasta into individual serving dishes and sprinkle grated parmesan over the top pf the pasta.
Lay the cooked halloumi on top of the pasta and serve hot.
Charred halloumi
Tip Box
Cook the vegetables – How big the vegetables are will dictate how long the vegetables take to cook, so adjust the timings accordingly.
How thin should the sauce be? - The sauce should be about the thickness of double cream. Add a little bit of the pasta water at a time until the correct consistency is reached. Don’t add to much water all at once.
Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta.
