Fettuccini pesto with spicy roast pumpkin and parmesan cheese.

Confession… I married a vegetarian.

Meal times can be interesting at ‘My Kitchen Confessions Manor’ as I am not keen on sitting down to a meal that does not contain some kind of meat or seafood. So each evening I set about preparing two meals …one for Captain Vegetarian the other for me.

My other problem is, although he flatly denies it, Captain Vegetarian is a picky eater. Unfortunately that is something I do need to take some blame in as in the first year of our marriage I was going through a bit of a tomato faze… Let’s just say I used them a lot and leave it at that.Captain vegetarian does prefer it when I avoid cooking a meal for him using any type of tomato cooked or raw; he also isn’t a fan of mushrooms (not my fault). What he does enjoy though is my fettuccini pesto with spicy roast pumpkin and parmesan cheese.

Serves 2

250grams dried fettuccini

¼ cup light thickened cream

Toasted pine nuts for sprinkling

Freshly grated/shaved parmesan for sprinkling

Pesto

4 cups Basil leaves

1 large garlic clove
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup freshly grated pecorino cheese
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
Sea Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Toast pine nuts gently in a small pan over a low heat until they are lovely and brown… be careful not to turn your back as they only take a second to burn

Combine ingredients except for salt and pepper into your food processor and blend to your preferred consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Spicy Roast Pumpkin

500grams of butternut pumpkin cut into rustic chunks

1 tablespoon walnut oil

1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Sea salt to taste

Preheat your oven to 200ºC and line an oven tray with baking paper (Trust me it helps with washing up, make it your new best friend)

Crush chilli flakes, fennel seeds and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle.

Combine pumpkin, walnut oil and spices on your baking tray and combine well. Flatten out and season with sea salt.

Cook until pumpkin cooked and caramelised …approximately 30 – 40 minutes.

The final event

Cook fettuccini according to instructions in a large pot of salted boiling water. Once cooked drain pasta and return to the pot.

Over a low heat add ½ the pesto (save the rest for another meal) and the cream to the pasta and combine well. Add pumpkin and stir gently to keep pumpkin in shape. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Serve in large bowls and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and parmesan cheese.

Note – I have also used olive oil when making the spicy  roast pumpkin and had a delicious result, however if you do come across a bottle of walnut oil I suggest you grab it as it is also a sensation oil to use on your salads!