Roasted Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken and Spicy Sage & Nut Crumble
Caramelised roasted pumpkin and garlic blended into a silky cottage-cheese sauce, tossed with pasta and herby chicken, finished with a crunchy sage and nut crumble.
Ingredients
Method
Heat the oven to 220°C. Toss the pumpkin and shallots with the olive oil, paprika, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and maple syrup.
Add the garlic head, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle the rosemary and chopped sage over everything.
Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pumpkin is caramelised and tender.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente and reserve the pasta water. Mix the Italian seasoning and store the rest in a sealed container. Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and some of the Italian seasoning, then fry in a pan with a little olive oil until cooked through. Take the chicken out of the pan and rest it on the side.
Set aside about 75 g of the roasted pumpkin. Squeeze the garlic from its skins and blend with the remaining pumpkin, the shallots, cottage cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon, nutmeg and 250 ml of the pasta water until smooth. Add more pasta water until the sauce is silky and pourable.
Add the pasta and sauce to the chicken pan and toss over low heat, adding more pasta water as needed, until glossy and creamy. Slice the chicken and add it back in.
Fold in the reserved roasted pumpkin pieces.
In a separate pan, fry the pecans, walnuts, garlic, sage, thyme, red pepper flakes and flaky salt in olive oil until golden and smelling fragrant.
Top the pasta with fresh rosemary, black pepper, Parmesan and a generous spoonful of the crumble.
The sauce is blended from roasted pumpkin and cottage cheese, so it's creamy without any cream, keep adding pasta water until it turns glossy. Any leftover Italian seasoning keeps well in a sealed jar for the next batch of chicken.