Orecchiette Pasta with Butternut Pumpkin, Chili, Hazelnuts & Mint

Prepare Ingredients:

Bring large pot of salted water to the boil. Peel and small dice butternut pumpkin into 1cm chunks. Peel and thinly slice garlic. Zest lemon and cut in half. Pick mint leaves, discard stems. Roughly chop.

Toast Hazelnuts & Start Pumpkin:

Meanwhile, heat deep sided frypan over medium-high heat. Add hazelnuts and toast in dry pan for 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside. Heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Add diced pumpkin and a pinch of salt and cook, tossing occasionally, until pumpkin is crisp-tender, about 8-12 minutes.

Cook Pasta:

Meanwhile, cook orecchiette in pot of boiling salted water until al dente - about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving about a cup of pasta water.

Cook Pumpkin:

Add garlic and ¹⁄₄-¹⁄₂ tsp chili flakes (to taste) to pan with pumpkin, cooking until garlic starts to brown. Immediately add ¹⁄₂ cup of reserved pasta water and reduce heat. Add butter and lemon zest (to taste), swirling pan to create a glossy sauce.

Finish Sauce:

Add pasta and toss to coat. Add lemon juice (to taste), parmesan (save some for garnish), more chili (to taste), and ¹⁄₂ the mint leaves. Add a little more pasta water if necessary and toss to coat everything in the pan. Season to taste. Chop hazelnuts once cool enough to handle.

You Plate It:

Serve pasta topped with chopped hazelnuts, remaining parmesan and remaining mint. Enjoy!