Give Pasta Sauce A Flavor Boost With One Canned Ingredient

Pasta isn't complete without a silky sauce to coat it, and as long as it tastes great, we don't really mind what's in it. We're always turning to tomatoes and basil to make the sauces, but there are other veggies that deserve a spot on the noodles, too. Though we usually reserve pumpkin puree for Thanksgiving pies, the canned ingredient brings a sweet touch to pasta.

Pumpkin puree is far too good to be relegated to one purpose alone. It's nutty and rife with that rich flavor we obsess over. It can be a little saccharine on its own, though, so you can always upgrade pasta sauce with the velvety squash puree. Be it a hearty marinara or refreshing basil pesto, pumpkin meshes well with the main ingredients for most pasta sauces, so adding it into the mix isn't an imposition. Rather, it deepens the flavor with its exquisite warmth.

Canned pumpkin comes pre-cooked, so all you need to do is stir it into the pasta sauce you're cooking and simmer it together. If you're using pesto, heat up the pumpkin puree to give it a smoother texture you can easily mix into the sauce. For homemade pesto, just add the puree to the food processor or blender along with the other ingredients. You can also add more basil or cheese to bring more of an herbaceous or umami presence to balance out the pumpkin.

The best pasta sauces to pair pumpkin with are the ones that have ingredients that are complementary to the squash. Almond mint pesto has a nutty, creamy flavor that brings out pumpkin's best qualities. While the almond and pumpkin mirror each other's taste and texture, the mint brings an energizing flavor that lifts everything up, preventing the pumpkin from making the pesto too heavy.

Nuts in general are always incredible with pumpkin, and Ligurian pasta with a walnut cream sauce is no exception. Walnuts have a bitterness to them that balances out the pumpkin so it doesn't overtake the dish. When toasted, the walnuts become even nuttier, creating a luxurious mix with the squash. The smooth pumpkin puree slips easily into the cream sauce, turning it into a velvety creation.

Aside from elevating the walnuts, you can also try out ways to hack canned pumpkin puree so it tastes better. To give it a fresher taste that better fits with your homemade sauce, roast it in the oven to bring out the flavors that may have been lost in translation during the canning process. You can also season the pasta sauce according to the flavors of the pumpkin. For a simple creamy pumpkin sauce, gently simmer the puree with butter and heavy cream and flavor it with nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.