The ingredients: makes 3-4 servings

3-4 cups cooked rigatoni

1/3 cup breadcrumbs 

1/3 cup pepitas

3 tbsp butter (1 tbsp to toast breadcrumbs and 2 tbsp with the sage, before adding pumpkin sauce)

2/3 cup pumpkin purée

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil 

2 tbsp grated Parmesan

1 cup pasta water

3 tbsp chopped sage

1/4 cup heavy cream

3 cups chopped kale

Seasonings needed: 1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp for the pumpkin sauce and 1/2 tsp for when you’re mixing it all together at the end) and 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp nutmeg

The recipe: 

Cook pasta according to package. IMPORTANT NOTE: Before you drain your pasta, be sure to save 1 cup of pasta water! You will need about 3 cups of cooked rigatoni for this recipe!

Let’s start with making our toasted breadcrumb topping. I had some stale bread that I needed to use so I added the slices to a blender and just blended for about 10-15 seconds until the pieces broke down into breadcrumbs.

Now it’s time to toast the breadcrumbs. Add 1 tbsp butter to the pan and add the freshly ground up breadcrumbs. Let them get toasty before for 2 minutes on low-med heat and then add pepitas and cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

Once the breadcrumbs are done, it’s time to make your sauce. So in the same blender that you just used for the breadcrumbs, add pumpkin puree, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Then mix all ingredients together for about 30 seconds, until well blended.

In your pan, add 2 tbsp butter and cook for about 1-2 minutes or until it starts to brown. Add in chopped sage and cook for another minute.

Then add pumpkin sauce to the pan, and let simmer for about 3-5 minutes until it starts to bubble. Then add in 1/4 cup of cream and mix well.

Next add in your chopped kale and cook down for about 3-4 minutes. Once the kale has cooked down, slowly add in a little more pasta water to get the sauce to your desired consistency! Then add in pasta and mix well!

Once all of the pasta is nice and coated, top with your toasted breadcrumbs and pepitas, some freshly grated parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of chopped sage!