LITTLE ROCK — Here’s what you won’t be adding to the pasta cooking water or the thick, chunky, naturally sweet sauce: salt. In truth, we missed it only as a finishing note. So if your constitution can handle a little sprinkling of the stu◊, do so right before serving, per portion.
Serve with a salad of bitter greens.
Pumpkin Turkey Pasta 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided use 5 cloves garlic, minced ¼ white onion, diced 3 vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely
chopped 1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree
OR butternut squash puree1 cup tomato puree 2 teaspoons tomato paste ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground white pepper ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
fl akes 8 ounces dried pappardelle pasta or other wide noodles 1 pound ground turkey Leaves from 4 to 6 stems sage OR 4
stems thyme OR 2 stems basil
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.
Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the garlic and onion, stirring to coat. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, then stir in the chopped tomatoes, pumpkin puree, tomato puree, tomato paste, ¼ teaspoon of the cinnamon, the white pepper and crushed red pepper fl akes. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.
While the tomato mixture and pasta are cooking, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the turkey to the skillet and cook until the meat has lost its raw look, breaking up any large clumps, about 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoonto transfer the meat to the sauce, then stir to incorporate. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Taste, and add more cinnamon if needed. Remove from the heat and stir in the sage.
Drain the pasta in a colander and divide among individual plates. Top each portion with a generous amount of the sauce. Serve hot.
Makes 4 servings.
Recipe adapted from Sodium Girl’s Limitless Low-Sodium Cookbook: How to Lose the Salt and Eat the Foods You Love by Jessica Goldman Foung (Wiley, 2013).
Food, Pages 35 on 02/27/2013