Two Ingredient Pumpkin Pasta

Every fall, like every other #basicwhitegirl, I get really into all things pumpkin. I found a few delicious pumpkin recipes that require slightly less than a full can of pumpkin. I was trying to figure out what to do with the leftover puree and found a recipe for two ingredient pumpkin pasta and knew I needed to try it. 

This pasta is a fun adventure to make. I make it without a pasta maker, although that certainly would make it easier. Using a rolling pin definitely makes thicker pasta, but it still tastes delicious. I learned the hard way that the two things you need to make this homemade pasta are time and space. You need enough space to roll out the dough and place the cut pasta and you need enough patience to wait for the pasta to dry out enough so that they don't stick together. 

The browned butter sauce is easy to make but don't skip the lemon juice. Acid brings out the flavor in a way that more butter or salt never could. Along with fragrant sage, this sauce is the perfect compliment to the pasta. 

This recipe is more intuition than science, so go with your gut. If you think it needs more flour? Go for it! Less time cooking? Sure! When you've got some extra pumpkin puree to use up, this is the perfect way to do it! 

Pumpkin Pasta with Sage Browned Butter

Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4 persons
Recipes from: Wholefully, Food Network, Marcella Hazen

Ingredients: 
1 14oz can pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour, more for rolling
Salt

4 tablespoons butter
8 sage leaves
Dash of salt
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup fresh parmesan

Directions:
1. Pile the flour in the middle of a board or clean countertop. Make a well in the center and add in the pumpkin puree.
2. Using clean hands, mix together the puree and flour until it forms a stiff dough (adding more flour if needed to make it not sticky). Knead for 5-10 minutes, adding flour until it no longer sticks. 
3. Divide the dough in half, covering one half with a towel to keep it from drying out. Form remaining dough into a flat disc.
4. Make sure the work surface is well floured, and flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough into a very thin sheet, less than 1/8" thick. Lay a clean, dry towel on a table. Lay the pasta on the towel, letting about a third of the sheet hang over the edge of the towel onto the table. After about 10 minutes, turn it, letting another third hang over the edge. Turn it again after another 10 minutes. Pasta for noodles must be dried out so that the noodle ribbons, when cut, do not stick together. It must not be overdried, however. Before cutting, it must be folded into a flat roll, so it has to stay soft and pliable enough to fold without cracking. When the surface of the pasta begins to take on a leathery look, it is ready for folding and cutting. This process should take 15-30 minutes.
5. Fold the pasta over and over into a flat roll about 3 inches wide. Place one hand on the roll, and cut the pasta into 1/4th-inch slides. Once you have cut the entire roll, open out the noodles on a clean, dry towel and allow them to firm up for 5 minutes. They are then ready to cook. Gather them up with a towel and let them slide into the boiling salted water. 
6. While the pasta is drying, make the Butter and Sage Sauce (below). Cook pasta for 2-3 minutes in boiling (well salted) water. When the pasta is done cooking, drain the pasta and gently pour into serving bowl. Drizzle browned butter (removing the sage leaves). Add the cheese, toss to coat and serve immediately.

Sage Browned Butter
1. Melt butter in a small pot or saute pan and continue cooking until golden brown color appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter.
2. Add sage leaves and remove from heat. Add lemon juice and salt and set aside.