Pumpkin and Turkey pasta is creamy and delicious. Made with ground turkey, mushrooms, fresh herbs, and warm spices. This savory pasta dish is rich, creamy and full of cozy fall flavors.
Today’s delicious sauce also has sweet onions and the earthy flavor from using two different types of mushrooms (portobello and white mushrooms). We could have used turkey sausage, but used ground turkey instead. You could make this even with turkey sausage (or regular sausage).
Totally kid approved! They just love this flavorful pasta recipe!!
It's official: I am a true vegetable bargain hunter. Some of my Calabrian mother-in-law's food shopping savviness has definitely rubbed off on me! She has been training me for years in Italy and here back home. You could say this pumpkin and turkey pasta came together, thanks to her!
Her mission is always to find the best deals! I watch her from her balcony in Italy and at the mercato bartering with every vendor! This summer in Calabria I walked two steps behind her and watched her clever way of getting the deal she wanted with the hot pepper vendor and the tomato vender.
One day, all by myself, I even stood in line in the incredible Calabrian summer heat to buy the BEST homemade ricotta (at 2.50 euro each container, it was worth the wait!). The old ladies kept trying to figure out who was in line first. It was the typical Calabrian chaos.
Shoppers were coming at the little truck filled with magical ricotta containers from every angle. The shoppers became more and more anxious and even angry! I tried to calm down my new friends every time someone cut in line and got their ricotta first.
Then I proudly arrived back at my mother-in-law's home in time for lunch with two of these treasured ricotta containers. We took one to my grandmother-in-law's house for dinner and I proudly told her how that morning I went to the Thursday mercato and I braved the heat and the long line of angry customer's for this extra special ricotta.
I asked her what she thought of the ricotta. And without skipping a beat, my 94 year old Calabrian grandmother-in-law told me in pure Calabrian dialect, "It tastes like ricotta!".
So back to the vegetable bargain hunting...this pasta came together with bargain containers of portobello and white button mushrooms that I found at my favorite vegetable market!
This pasta dish is totally dairy-free, but I know it would taste delicious with a nice spoonful of ricotta on top!
How to make pasta with pumpkin and turkey?
This is all you need to do to make this DELICIOUS pasta. Full recipe is below.
The first thing is to gather all the ingredients. You can use thyme if you can't find fresh rosemary. Dried rosemary could work, but there is a big difference in the flavor of fresh (I have it growing in my herb garden and use it in so many recipes).
Second step is to add some olive oil to the skillet. when it is warmed up, cook the onions and mushrooms first. First add in the onions. When they are almost translucent (about 3-4 minutes), add in the mushrooms. When they're cooked up (about 4-5 minutes), remove onions + mushrooms and add them to a small bowl.
Third step is to add another drop of olive oil to the pan and add in the ground turkey. Use a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces. The ground turkey will take about 14-16 minutes in total to cook. When it has just a little bit of pink color, go on to the next step.
Fourth step, when the ground turkey is almost cooked up, add in the broth and a splash of white wine (you could leave that out if you don't drink or don't have any on hand. The alcohol does evaporate while it's cooking). Add in the fresh rosemary.
Cook that all together for about 5 minutes. The turkey will finish cooking with the wine and broth. Fill a large pot with water and add salt (to cook the pasta)and bring to a boil. When it boils, add in your pasta and cook to package directions.
Fifth step is to add in the pumpkin puree. That's when I added in salt, freshly ground pepper, a dash of cinnamon, and I grated fresh nutmeg right on top (it was about a 1/2 teaspoon). Stir it all together and cook it about 5-7 minutes.
The sixth and final step when the sauce is cooked up add in the mushrooms and onions. Stir it all together and let it cook together for about 2 minutes.
When the pasta is ready and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Strain the pasta in a colander and add immediately to the skillet with turkey/pumpkin sauce.
If it's too thick, you can loosen it up with a bit of the pasta water.
What pasta shape goes with pumpkin pasta sauce?
I paired my pumpkin pasta sauce with rigatoni, however any short pasta would pair up very well with the sauce.
How do you cook perfect pasta?
In a large pot add 4 quarts of water to each pound of dry pasta. Turn the heat to high. Add two teaspoons of salt to the water and bring to a boil.
Once the water is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and stir together. Set the timer to whatever the pasta package says.
Stir the pasta couple minutes and keep an eye on pot so it’s not boiling over (you can’t leave the pot boiling away).
When the time is almost up, check a piece of pasta to see if it’s al dente (so it has a tender chew and little bite in the center). You will be combining the pasta with the sauce, so drain it as soon as it’s al dente, reserving one cup of the pasta water.
Do not rinse the pasta.
Give the colander a good shake to drain and add the pasta immediately to the pan with the sauce. If needed, you could add some of the pasta water to thin the sauce a little and to help the sauce combine with the pasta. Stir to combine all together.
How to store pasta with pumpkin and turkey?
Once the pasta has cooled down, place the leftovers in an airtight container or a zipped lock freezer bag in the refrigerator. This pasta will stay fresh for up to 3 days.
Some other pasta recipes to enjoy:
- Vegan Pumpkin Pasta with Sage
- Pasta with Ricotta and Peas
- Ziti al Forno-Baked Ziti with Meat Sauce
- Fettuccine with Weeknight Lamb Ragù
Pumpkin and Turkey Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion minced (sweet, white or red onion is fine)
- 1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1 pound ground turkey you could use ground chicken or turkey sausage (removed from casing)
- 1 cup of pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 cup white wine or additional reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary reserve some leaves to garnish
- 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth I used my own homemade broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, are almost softened, 3-4 minutes.
- Add in the mushrooms. When they're cooked up (about 4-5 minutes), remove onions and
- mushrooms and add them to a small bowl.
- Add another tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the pan and add in the ground turkey. Use a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces (the ground turkey will take about 14-16 minutes in total to cook, but cook it until it’s almost ready, about 12 minutes) . When it has just a little bit of pink color, go on to the next step.
- when it the ground turkey is almost cooked up, add in the broth and a splash of white wine (you could leave that out if you don't drink or don't have any on hand. The alcohol does evaporate while it's cooking). Add in the fresh rosemary.
- Cook that all together about 5 minutes. The turkey will finish cooking with the wine and broth. Fill a large pot with water and add salt (to cook the pasta)and bring to a boil. When it boils, add in your pasta and cook to package directions.
- Add in the broth and a splash of white wine (you could leave that out if you don't drink wine or have any on hand. The alcohol does evaporate while it's cooking). Add in the fresh rosemary.
- Cook that all together about 5 minutes. The turkey will finish cooking with the wine and broth. Fill a large pot with water and add salt (to cook the pasta)and bring to a boil. When it boils, add in your pasta and cook to package directions.
- Add in the pumpkin puree, salt, freshly ground pepper, a dash of cinnamon, ground nutmeg (I grated fresh nutmeg right on top -about a 1/2 teaspoon). Stir it all together and cook it about 5-7 minutes.
- When the sauce is cooked up, add in the mushrooms and onions. Stir it all together and let it cook together for about 2 minutes.
- When the pasta is ready, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Strain the pasta in a colander and add pasta immediately to the skillet with the turkey/pumpkin sauce.
- If it's too thick, you can loosen it up with a bit of the pasta water. Stir it all together to combine on medium-high heat (about 1 minute). Remove the rosemary sprig.
- Plate up and serve with some freshly ground black pepper (if you like)and rosemary leaves. Optional: spice it up with some hot pepper flakes and grated cheese (if you're not dairy-free).
Nutrition Disclaimer
Please keep in mind that the nutritional information presented below is an approximation and may vary depending on the exact ingredients used.
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