Recipe: Pumpkin-Chicken Pasta

I made this for supper tonight. It started out as an idea from AllRecipes.com, but I made enough changes that it probably counts as a different recipe now. The pumpkin is different, mellow, and we all agreed that it was pretty tasty. All of you Northern Hemisphere folks who are currently experiencing autumn might appreciate this dish as change-up from all of the usual pumpkin-based fare that's popular right now.

A somewhat-lousy shot. My photography suffers when I'm trying to convince the
kids not to fight over the penguin fork.

Pumpkin-Chicken Pasta 

Cut one large pumpkin in half. Remove seeds from one half and place it in a 350-400 degree oven to cook.

Dice

• 4 tomatoes
• 2 onions
• 5-6 cloves garlic

And put in a medium-sized saucepan with dashes of

• Salt
• Black pepper
• Cinnamon
• Sage
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Basil
• Ginger
• 1 - 2 T oil

Let it cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have cooked down to a sauce, then add 1 C chicken broth. Turn it down to a simmer.

Once your pumpkin is soft, use a soup spoon to scrape the flesh out of the rind. Put it in a blender and blend with 1/2 or 1 C milk to create a thick, smooth, creamy texture. Add the pumpkin sauce to the ingredients in the sauce pan.

Stir in

• 1/2 C grated mozzarella or white cheddar
• 1/2 lb. cooked chicken pieces*

Taste and add more seasonings as needed.
Serve over pasta or as a soup.
Approx. 6 servings with pasta

*If you have pieces of raw chicken, it would be quite tasty to stew them in the oil with the tomato mixture.