I came across this recipe in my diary, it’s slightly embarrassingly called ‘The Foodies Diary’ maybe you have one too? The thing is, it’s great for listing seasonal produce, festivals and farmers markets and me being from the UK – everything’s back to front over here and good to know what’s in season – even if it seems a bit weird having raspberries and strawberries in December and Brussels sprouts in August!

I’ve been experimenting with pumpkin pasta dishes for a while but hadn’t come up with anything very good, until I tried this out. I’ve been working with Sandra, from ‘La Cucina di Sandra’ on some food styling/photography and she also has a fabulous pumpkin pasta dish (I’ll ask her first if it’s ok for me to publish her creation on here) but if you live in Melbourne, check out her website and Facebook. Sandra cooks authentic Italian dishes, like nothing I have tried before. If you’re interested in booking a class, all details are on her Facebook (link below). It’s a very intimate experience in her beautiful home, watching and learning as Sandra prepares the food and then tasting each course for yourself. Bring wine if you fancy and even design your own bespoke class. It’s a great present too, far more interesting than just a meal or drinks out in a restaurant (and better food!)

https://www.facebook.com/lacucinadisandraau

Anyway, here’s the recipe from my diary – it’s pretty simple and quick to make. Once you have roasted the pumpkin with the rosemary, it’s simply a case of frying onion and bacon and cooking the pasta!

Ingredients Serves 2-4 (just add more pasta depending on how many are dining)

• ½ butternut pumpkin, diced into 2cm cubes
• 2 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, chopped finely
• 4-6 good quality smoky bacon rashers or pancetta, diced
• 3 tbsp chicken stock
• 1 packet or 4 large handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped
• Pasta of your choice, I like large, ribbed rigatoni for this dish. We like LOTS but you can weigh, recommended 100g per person for a main course

Method

Heat oven to 180°C.

Mix the pumpkin with the rosemary and 2-3 tbsp olive oil. Season well and place in the oven for 30 minutes once it’s up to temperature and cook until golden.

Heat a large pan of salted water to boiling point and add your pasta, time it according to packet instructions or until al dente.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium to high heat and add your onion. After a few minutes, add your diced bacon and cook until the onion is golden and the bacon has slightly browned.

Add your chicken stock to the onion and bacon and cook for a few minutes until it is starting to simmer.

Just before pasta is cooked, add your spinach to the onion mixture, turn off the heat, drain pasta and mix them both together.

Now add your pumpkin carefully, so it doesn’t break up too much and serve immediately.

You could add chopped, roasted walnuts, roasted pumpkin seeds or even a sprinkle of feta – but I love this just how it is! Easy to exclude the bacon, if you want to make it vegetarian too.