Smoky pumpkin sauce

I love this sauce - it's got the perfect balance of smokiness, creaminess and pumpkin hit that just keeps you wanting to eat more and more. The best thing is that it's versatile in that you can use the sauce for a variety of things - with pasta, in a pasta bake, a meat sauce or even to accompany other veggies! You could even adjust a couple of the ingredients and make it a beautiful silky smooth pumpkin soup and dip it with a slice of crusty bread. Yes there is quite a bit of smoked paprika in there but I like it smoky! Adjust as you like. Put in a bit more cayenne pepper or even chilli flakes if you want a bit more of a kick. I got the inspiration from Pasta Social Club and have slightly adjusted and thermofied their recipe.

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Ingredients

¼ Kent pumpkin or whole butternut pumpkin

700g water

3 garlic cloves

10g butter

10g chicken/vegetable stock paste

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon chipotle or cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg

50g Parmigiano-Reggiano or parmesan, broken into chunks. Extra to serve

100g pouring cream

Pasta water

Method

1. Cut pumpkin in pieces (roughly 3 cm cubes) and arrange on Varoma tray and dish. No need to peel the skin.

2. Add the water in the bowl and place Varoma with pumpkin on top. Steam for 30 min/Varoma/sp 2.

3. Pour out water and spoon pumpkin into the bowl. Blend mode 30 seconds.

4. Transfer to a bowl. Clean and dry mixing bowl.

5. Grate cheese - 10 sec/speed 8. Transfer to another bowl. Clean and dry mixing bowl.

6. Put garlic in bowl. Chop 3 sec/sp 5. Scrape down sides of bowl.

7. Add in butter and saute, 2 min/Varoma/sp 1

8. Add in reserved pureed pumpkin and the rest of the ingredients except for the pasta water. Cook 15 minutes/95 degrees/sp 3.

9. Check consistency of sauce - add in some pasta water (if using it as a pasta sauce), or just plain water if you want it a bit thinner, and mix with your spatula.

10. Ready to use and enjoy!