Autumn is pumpkin season in every hemisphere! This week I was thinking of ways to use my homemade dukkah, but in a warming and hearty way that the cool weather precipitates. Spying a wedge of pumpkin in the fridge, I decided to make a Moroccan flavoured pasta. It might sound like a weird combination of ingredients but the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts! The sweetness of the pumpkin combined with heat from the spices, nuttiness from the chickpeas and dukkah, and a salty richness from the feta, really makes for a bit of a showstopper. We were certainly very satisfied with it!
Moroccan pumpkin, chickpea and feta pasta
Serves 4 heartily
1kg Kent pumpkin, skin on (or off, if you prefer)
Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 can chickpeas, drained (save the liquid to make pasta)
2 teaspoons Moroccan Souk spice mix (or you could use another Moroccan seasoning, or ras el hanout)
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or a mild chilli powder)
500g orecchiette or other small pasta (macaroni would work well)
1 litre vegetable stock (I added a little miso, cinnamon and turmeric for extra flavour)
Spinach or kale leaves, shredded
Almond feta, or regular feta, to serve
Dukkah, to serve
Preheat the oven to 200 C. Cut your pumpkin carefully into similarly sized medium cubes - I keep the skin on but you can remove it if you like - and place on an oiled baking tray. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake the pumpkin for about 30 minutes or until golden. You may need to toss them halfway through. Keep warm.
Put the kettle on to boil.
In a large saute pan with a lid (I use my Le Creuset shallow casserole), heat some olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes until soft and starting to colour. Add the chickpeas and spices and continue stirring and cooking for a few minutes until everything is combined and smelling nice but not browning.
Using boiling water from the kettle, make the stock in a jug and set aside.
Working quickly so the stock doesn’t cool, increase the heat on the stove and add the pasta to the spiced chickpea mixture in the pan. Stir to coat well, then add the stock - just a little at first, as it will probably hiss and bubble, then add the rest. Stir gently, making sure it’s all combined and nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pan, and ensuring all the pasta is submerged by the stock. Add a little bit more boiling water if needed.
Bring the pan to the boil, stir once more to ensure nothing is stuck to the bottom, then reduce the heat right down to a simmer, put a lid on and set your timer for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, return to the pan, check the pasta for done-ness. It might need slightly longer. When it’s done, nearly all of the liquid should have evaporated, but there should be a little bit left as the pasta’s sauce.
Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, add most of the roast pumpkin cubes to the pan, reserving two or three per serve for decoration, plus the shredded spinach, and stir through until the spinach has wilted. The pumpkin should disintegrate a bit and meld with the remaining stock to form a lovely sauce.
Serve in pasta bowls and top each serve with a few roast pumpkin cubes, some feta and a scattering of dukkah. Perfect Netflix and chill food.
If you have any leftovers, you can make a pasta bake - which I think we enjoyed even more than the original dish! Add half a cup (or so, depending how much you’ve got left) of hot stock to the leftover pasta, stir to amalgamate, add any extra vegetables you want (I added broccoli), stir again, top with feta (or any other kind of cheese), breadcrumbs and a little dukkah, and bake in a hot oven for about 25 minutes. So good!