Ingredients

• 1 small pie pumpkin* (should yield 2 ½ cups of flesh)
• olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• Nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. rice flour
• 2 cups of unsweetened cashew milk (your choice of almond, soy, flax or rice)
• 3 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 8 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• Salt and pepper
• 1 bag of macaroni (gluten-free if needed)

Ingredients for the kale stir-fry :

• 3 tbsp.olive oil
• 3 large kale leaves, chopped
• 1 tbsp. squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375^oF.
2. Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise (from top to bottom) and empty out the seeds.
3. Brush the pumpkin flesh with olive oil, then place both halves on a baking sheet (face down, rounded side up).
4. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife pierces the flesh easily. When done, scoop out the pumpkin and place the flesh (2 ½ cups in a food processor).
5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Drain and set aside.
6. In a large skillet, sauté the garlic clove in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
7. Add the rice flour and nutmeg, stirring gently. Season generously with salt and pepper.
8. Add the cashew milk and leave to simmer, whisking occasionally.
9. Add the milk mixture to the pumpkin flesh in the food processor.
10. Add the Dijon mustard and nutritional yeast.
11. Blend on high until smooth.
12. Serve sauce over macaroni noodles and garnish with sautéed kale.
13. If desired, add a protein of choice: grilled tempeh, chicken strips, buffalo meatballs, etc.

Tips

For the kale sauté: sauté a clove of garlic in olive oil. Add the kale and seasonings. Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until the kale has softened slightly and the color is brighter.

*The pie pumpkin, or small pumpkin, has a sweeter, less bitter flesh than the large field pumpkin. You could easily replace the flesh of the small pumpkin with that of the large one, taking care to add a pinch of sugar and slightly more nutmeg to spice up the taste.

Author

Véronique Cousineau,

Naturopath; RHN