Chocolate Pasta with Pumpkin and Goat Cheese
IMG_3964

My mom showed up yesterday and she came baring gifts! The gifts were of the best possible kind in my opinion: edible.

One of them was a beautiful package of Chocolate Pasta she had found at the grocery store. Now I have made beet pasta and love the idea of flavored pasta’s- but chocolate had never crossed my mind.

It actually had package directions for serving it in a sweet way, but I changed the direction completely. Because I have about a dozen sugar pumpkins lying about, I have a list an arm long for pumpkin recipes that I have been wanting to make. Near the top has been pasta with pumpkin. The chocolate seemed like it would be a perfect compliment to the pumpkin.

I boiled up one noodle first, to make sure that it wasn’t too sweet or weird, and to my delight, it was really good. It tasted more like egg pasta with a slight cocoa edge- no sweetness at all.

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So I paired it with tender chunks of pumpkin, sweet red onion and crispy pumpkin seeds (from the same pumpkin I chopped up.) Oh, and don’t forget the luscious chunks of melting goat cheese! It was the perfect finish to this gorgeous pasta dish which would be a total show stopper at any dinner party or family dinner.

By the way- my children heard “chocolate pasta” and actually ate this dish just based on the idea ☺

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Chocolate Pasta with Pumpkin and goat cheese, serves 6
1lb chocolate pasta (plain pasta would work beautifully too)

4 cups pumpkin, peeled and seeded
2 Tbs Olive oil
½ red onion, thinly sliced
2 oz soft goat cheese, cut or broken into pieces
spiced pumpkin seeds
Kosher salt to taste

spiced pumpkin seeds
seeds of one pumpkin
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Kosher salt
pinch of nutmeg
¼ tsp chili powder

Spiced pumpkin seeds:
1)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2)Rinse and drain the seeds and lay out the seeds on a sheet pan with a silpat or a sheet of parchment.

3)Toss the seeds with the 2 tsp of olive oil.

4)Sprinkle the seeds with salt, nutmeg and chili powder.

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5)Bake the seeds for about 10-15 minutes or until the seeds are golden and crispy.

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6)Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

7)In a large pan, add the olive oil and the onion slices. Sprinkle them with salt.

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8)Cook them until tender, about 5 minutes.

9)Cut the pumpkin into pieces.

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10)Add the pumpkin pieces to the pan and cook until tender. (it is ok to add a few tablespoons of pasta water if the pan gets dry)

11)(This is about when you should add the pasta to the water, and cook according to directions.)

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12)When the pumpkin is tender, about 8-10 minutes, add the pasta and toss until combined with the onions and pumpkin.

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13)Add the cubes of goat cheese and plate while hot.

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14)Sprinkle the toasted pumpkin seeds over the top of the pasta and serve hot.

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Print Recipe  

Chocolate Pasta with Pumpkin and Goat Cheese
IMG_3964

My mom showed up yesterday and she came baring gifts! The gifts were of the best possible kind in my opinion: edible.

One of them was a beautiful package of Chocolate Pasta she had found at the grocery store. Now I have made beet pasta and love the idea of flavored pasta’s- but chocolate had never crossed my mind.

It actually had package directions for serving it in a sweet way, but I changed the direction completely. Because I have about a dozen sugar pumpkins lying about, I have a list an arm long for pumpkin recipes that I have been wanting to make. Near the top has been pasta with pumpkin. The chocolate seemed like it would be a perfect compliment to the pumpkin.

I boiled up one noodle first, to make sure that it wasn’t too sweet or weird, and to my delight, it was really good. It tasted more like egg pasta with a slight cocoa edge- no sweetness at all.

IMG_3960

So I paired it with tender chunks of pumpkin, sweet red onion and crispy pumpkin seeds (from the same pumpkin I chopped up.) Oh, and don’t forget the luscious chunks of melting goat cheese! It was the perfect finish to this gorgeous pasta dish which would be a total show stopper at any dinner party or family dinner.

By the way- my children heard “chocolate pasta” and actually ate this dish just based on the idea ☺

IMG_3959

Chocolate Pasta with Pumpkin and goat cheese, serves 6
1lb chocolate pasta (plain pasta would work beautifully too)

4 cups pumpkin, peeled and seeded
2 Tbs Olive oil
½ red onion, thinly sliced
2 oz soft goat cheese, cut or broken into pieces
spiced pumpkin seeds
Kosher salt to taste

spiced pumpkin seeds
seeds of one pumpkin
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Kosher salt
pinch of nutmeg
¼ tsp chili powder

Spiced pumpkin seeds:
1)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2)Rinse and drain the seeds and lay out the seeds on a sheet pan with a silpat or a sheet of parchment.

3)Toss the seeds with the 2 tsp of olive oil.

4)Sprinkle the seeds with salt, nutmeg and chili powder.

IMG_3949

5)Bake the seeds for about 10-15 minutes or until the seeds are golden and crispy.

IMG_3955

6)Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

7)In a large pan, add the olive oil and the onion slices. Sprinkle them with salt.

IMG_3951

8)Cook them until tender, about 5 minutes.

9)Cut the pumpkin into pieces.

IMG_3950

10)Add the pumpkin pieces to the pan and cook until tender. (it is ok to add a few tablespoons of pasta water if the pan gets dry)

11)(This is about when you should add the pasta to the water, and cook according to directions.)

IMG_3954

IMG_3952

12)When the pumpkin is tender, about 8-10 minutes, add the pasta and toss until combined with the onions and pumpkin.

IMG_3953

13)Add the cubes of goat cheese and plate while hot.

IMG_3961

14)Sprinkle the toasted pumpkin seeds over the top of the pasta and serve hot.

IMG_3956