Description
Pumpkin and bacon make the perfect fall pasta recipe sure to please the whole family!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound pasta (I used whole wheat penne)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- salt and pepper
- 12 slices of bacon
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup of pumpkin (I used Libby’s)
- about 3 tablespoons half and half or cream (even milk works!)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus a bit more to garnish
- a handful of chopped basil
Instructions
- Bring one large pot of water up to a boil for your pasta. Drop pasta in and cook 5-7 minutes until al dente.
- In another large skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Place bacon in pan and crisp up on both sides. Once crispy, remove bacon to a paper towel to drain. Add onion and garlic to your bacon drippings in the skillet and saute 4 to 5 minutes. (If you’re using turkey bacon, you might need to add another drizzle of EVOO in there.)
- Once onion is sauteed, pour in chicken stock to de-glaze your pan. Lower heat to low and let chicken stock simmer 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in your pumpkin and heat through about 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, break bacon into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
- Drain your pasta and add to pumpkin mixture. Stir in your half and half and Parm.
- Finally, add back in your crispy bacon pieces and basil.Remove from skillet, ladle pasta into bowls and serve with maybe with a little more Parmesan and basil if you like.
Notes
For this recipe, you can use either pork bacon or turkey bacon. We keep mostly turkey bacon in our house, so that’s what I used.