This is a wonderful pasta dish with flavours that just tempt your tastebuds for more. The lightly fried crispy, golden pumpkin is soft on the inside and compliments the pasta so well, while the prosciutto and goat’s cheese add two contrasting but equally complementary flavours and textures. The pine nuts and sage butter are the final gastronomic touch. If however you do not like goat’s cheese, crumbled feta works just as well. This recipe serves 4 – 6.
Butternut pumpkin prosciutto fettuccine with sage butter
400g fettuccine
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
500g butternut pumpkin, peeled, halved, seeds removed, thinly sliced
50g unsalted butter, chopped
Handful sage leaves
10 thin slices prosciutto
Juice of 1 lemon
100g soft goat’s cheese, crumbled
50g pine nuts roasted
Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water according to the packet instructions. Drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking liquid. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add half the pumpkin, season and cook, turning for 4 minutes or until golden and blistered. Transfer to a plate and repeat.
Heat the butter and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the prosciutto and cook for a minute or two until starting to curl. Remove from the pan. Continue to heat the pan and when the butter starts to froth and brown slightly, add the sage and toss to coat, then remove the pan from the heat.
Add pasta to sage butter and toss to coat. Add the pumpkin, prosciutto, lemon juice, half of the goat’s cheese and the reserved cooking liquid. Divide pasta among warmed bowls, top with the nuts and remaining cheese, and serve immediately.
