Pasta with pumpkin sauce
Wholemeal pasta served with a smooth, creamy sauce made from cooked pumpkin and onion softened in extra-virgin olive oil, created by dietitian Laia Gómez. With no tomato, it avoids the acidity typical of conventional sauces, making a satisfying, comforting and easy-to-digest dish for people with reflux or stomach discomfort.
At a glance
- Cooking20 min
- Total20 min
- DifficultyEasy
Allergens
- Gluten
Who this recipe is for
A mild, non-acidic alternative to traditional tomato sauce: it can fit into an eating plan for gastritis and reflux, as well as weight-loss plans.
Ingredients
Step by step
- Peel the quarter of pumpkin, remove the seeds and cut it into even-sized cubes.
- Put the pumpkin cubes in a pan of boiling water and cook until completely tender when pierced with a fork. Drain, reserving a little cooking water, and blend until smooth.
- Peel and finely chop the onion.
- Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion over medium-low heat until translucent and golden.
- Add the pumpkin purée to the softened onion and stir over a low heat. If the sauce is too thick, add a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water until creamy. Add a pinch of salt.
- Cook the wholemeal pasta in a large pan of boiling, lightly salted water for the time recommended by the manufacturer, until al dente.
- Drain the pasta and add it directly to the pan with the pumpkin sauce. Stir over a low heat for one minute so it is well coated.
- Serve hot, freshly made.
Adaptations
How to change it depending on the day. Each change keeps the dish, it does not replace it.
For people with coeliac disease or gluten intolerance
Use pasta made from certified gluten-free corn, rice or legumes (lentils or chickpeas).
For people with active reflux or sensitive digestion
Cook the onion very slowly until soft and avoid pepper or other hot spices that may irritate the digestive lining.
To add protein to the dish
Add sautéed tofu cubes or grilled chicken strips to the sauce, or sprinkle chopped hard-boiled egg over the dish before serving.
What it provides
Wholemeal pasta provides complex carbohydrates and dietary fibre, which support a slow, steady release of glucose. Pumpkin sauce provides beta-carotene, water and potassium, with very few calories and no saturated fat. It is a mild, easy-to-digest alternative to acidic or processed sauces.
The dietitian's tip
Cooked, blended pumpkin is a great way to replace tomato for people who experience heartburn or reflux. It gives sauces a silky texture and similar colour without triggering discomfort from acidity. You can make extra sauce and keep it in an airtight glass jar in the fridge for three days to serve with white rice, potatoes or quinoa.
See more advice in our gastro-oesophageal reflux guide and weight-loss plan. More gentle, easy-to-digest recipes: pumpkin, rice and cheese soup and creamy rice with monkfish.
What a recipe is not
This recipe fits into a plan; it does not replace one. It cures nothing and it is not calculated for one particular person: the quantities are indicative and will need adjusting to your case.
If you have a medical condition, take medication or follow a prescribed diet, check with your doctor or your dietitian before changing anything.
Where this recipe comes from
The main guide
Gastritis diet: what to eat and what to avoid
Before every meal you wonder how you are going to feel afterwards, and you end up eating fewer and fewer things. Almost…
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A recipe fits or does not fit depending on what is going on with you. In clinic we build the whole plan around what you eat, what you tolerate and what you fancy.