Name: Pumpkin Beef Bolognese
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 400 g/14 oz pasta; 3 tbsp olive oil; 2 shallots, finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1 celery stalk, finely chopped; 500 g/4 cups diced pumpkin, with skin, seeded (like hokkaido pumpkin/red kuri squash); 1 small or 1/2 large fennel bulb, trimmed and diced; 600 g/1.5 pounds ground beef; 1 tsp each: dried thyme, dried sage, dried marjoram, smoked paprika, chili flakes; sea salt + black pepper, to taste; 1 3/4 cups/400 ml beef stock (or chicken or vegetable stock); 1 bay leaf; 750 ml/3 cups puréed tomatoes; 1 heaped tbsp tomato paste; fresh thyme, for serving; chili flakes, for serving; ricotta, whipped with 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp grated parmesan, salt + black pepper (optional)

Pumpkin beef bolognese. Imagine a hearty meat sauce with meltingly tender pumpkin chunks. Served with pasta and topped with ricotta. You may think that this pumpkin bolognese is a time consuming cooking project, but actually it’s comfort food at its best. It’s wonderfully easy to throw together and you only need one pan.

We begin with a base of finely chopped celery, onion and garlic. Then we add the pumpkin and fennel. If you’ve never added pumpkin to your sauce before, it’s a delightful surprise. It has a mild but slightly sweet flavor and pairs really well with other veggies and meat. Fennel stands in for the more common aromatics, and it brightens the rich beef with a subtle and sophisticated undertone.
When the vegetables are tender, we add the beef and cook until browned. No beef? You can use ground pork or chicken to replace it.

Next we add some beef stock to round out the meat flavor and give the beef something to cook down in without drying out. Beef stock gives the whole dish a richer flavor, but you can use chicken or vegetable stock for a milder taste.

Finally, we add tomato sauce and allow everything to simmer. The only thing left is to stir in cooked pasta, top with ricotta, and enjoy! And if you never tried adding ricotta to your pasta, you should! A creamy blob of ricotta makes everything better. Just whip some whole milk ricotta with grated Parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper for an instant dinner upgrade.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.

RECIPE NOTES

This sauce is really delicious, it’s a decadent pleasure served with pasta or as part of a larger recipe like lasagna. I like to make a double batch and freeze half for a later date.
For best result, use a pumpkin or squash variety with a soft skin like Hokkaido pumpkin or Red Kuri squash.

More delicious pumpkin recipes:

Cooking Video

Yield: serves 4