This creamy vegan pumpkin pasta sauce recipe is made from scratch. Full of veggie goodness, it is delicious, hearty, & makes a fulfilling meal with some pasta. Cook it, eat it, store it, freeze it, enjoy it!
Roast Pumpkin: Place pumpkin pieces into a bowl, drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil, and add salt and pepper. Coat well and spread on a baking tray. Broil for about 15 minutes. Turn the pumpkin at about 7-8 mins.
Prepare the vegetables: Peel and chop the onions, chili, and garlic. Slice the spring onion, separating the whites from green and purée the tomatoes.
For the Pasta: Bring a medium pot of salted water to boil. Once the water is boiling, add pasta to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally until al-dente. Check the pasta package but most kinds of pasta will usually take 8-10 minutes. Drain and reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water for the sauce.
For the sauce: Place a deep pot on medium heat and add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add garlic, chili, onion, and spring onion whites. Sprinkle some salt and cook until just softened.
Add the tomato purée, mix well and cook covered for 5-6 minutes.
Remove the roasted pumpkin from the oven and add then to the saucepot. Also, add 1 cup of pasta water. Cook for a couple of minutes and then remove from heat. Blend using an immersion blender straight in the pot. Add more water if required and be very careful of splashes as the sauce is hot.
Stir in fresh basil pesto. Taste and adjust seasoning.
To serve: If eating right away, stir in the cooked pasta. Remove into plates and serve hot with some fresh basil.
To freeze: store the sauce in a glass air-tight jar and freeze for up to a month.
Notes
Nutritional Information is the approximate information for 1 of 2 servings of the pasta sauce only.
While I have made this sauce from scratch, by using fresh pumpkin, if you are short on time, simply use pumpkin puree.
A spoonful of fresh basil pesto totally lifts up this sauce. Alternatively, you can use Italian seasoning and dried basil.