Pasta Al Forno with Pumpkin and Pancetta

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merrill says: A few weeks ago, my husband and I enjoyed a meal at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island. I couldn't resist ordering a baked pasta, especially since they were featuring a seasonal version of their original 5-cheese wonder that also incorporated pumpkin and pancetta. Rich, lightly sweet but also tangy from the blend of different cheeses, the pasta was tinted a rich orange throughout -- although there were little chunks of pumpkin among the baked shells, I guessed that there had been some pumpkin pureed into the cream sauce as well. When I got home, I consulted the original recipe for the 5-cheese version, from Cucina Simpatica, and did my best to recreate what I'd had at the restaurant, adding roast pumpkin, pancetta and a little thyme. The most important part of the technique? You boil the pasta for barely 5 minutes, allowing the final blast in a flaming hot oven to cook it through to al dente and tinge the edges of the shells a lovely rich brown.

Serves 6 to 8

  • 1 3-4 pound cheese pumpkin or butternut squash
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 1/4 pound pancetta, diced
  • 1 pound conchiglie rigate (shells)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/4 pound shredded fresh mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
  • 1/2 cup fontina, coarsely grated
  • 1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola
  • 2 tablespoons ricotta
  • 2 teaspoons chopped thyme leaves
  1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Halve the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds. Cut the pumpkin into 8 equal wedges and arrange on two baking sheets lined with foil. Sprinkle the wedges with salt and pepper and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Bake for about an hour, until the pumpkin is caramelized and tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can handle the pumpkin without burning yourself.
  2. In the meantime, crisp the pancetta in a medium saucepan over medium heat, about 10 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels, discarding the fat.
  3. Turn the oven up to 500 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta for exactly 5 minutes, drain and run cool water over it for about 10 seconds. Set aside in the colander.
  4. Scoop enough of the cooked pumpkin from the rind to make 2 cups. Combine this with the cream in a blender and puree just until smooth (be careful not to overblend, or you’ll whip the cream). Scoop out some more of the pumpkin (you probably won’t need the whole thing) and chop roughly to make about a cup and a half.
  5. Combine the pumpkin and cream puree with the cheeses, salt, thyme and pancetta in a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Add the pasta and the chopped pumpkin and fold together just until combined.
  6. Spread the pasta evenly in a casserole or baking dish. Bake uncovered for 7 to 10 minutes, until the top is browned and the bottom layer of pasta is just tender.

Tags: pasta, rich, savory

Comments (23) Questions (4)

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3 months ago racheljames

I'm a vegetarian and used about a 1/2 cup of crumbled vegan Chorizo instead of Pancetta, and substituted Feta for Gorgonzola, which I don't really like. Turned out great! And was even better day two and three for lunch.

Bigboy

12 months ago vinylhaven

used to live in providence, i know how good al forno's is. this recipe did not disappoint. yum. after it was ready my party wasn't ready to eat, put foil on and kept in warm oven. i kept coming and sneeking a few bites before dinner was served, worth it get a little more. thanks

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about 1 year ago Christine Hardy Leaf

I have your holiday ap. For Boxing Day Dinner I had this with Porchetta, made with a boned leg of pork,and my own blood orange and redonion salad. Huge hit.
A small group of us are doing a dinner at a homeless shelter next Tuesday. This will be on the menu, the Mozzarella not fresh, Pecorino Romano replaced by cheddar, gorgonzola by the Pecorino Romano. !/2 & 1/2for the cream. I'm sure these guys will think it is the best Mac n Cheese ever.
Hi Cal. Hi protein and veg. hidden.

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about 1 year ago KayM

I made this last night with half and half -- turned out great.

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about 1 year ago weshook

I don't usually make baked pasta (can't wait that long to eat it), I think that I might try this one!

Sam_0244

over 1 year ago lpalumbo

I just made this and it was a great fall dish! I had some collard greens that needed to get used up so I sliced them and added to the pasta at the end of the cooking time to quickly blanch them before baking with everything else.

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over 1 year ago Summer of Eggplant

I can't believe I have not commented on this dish. We have made it several times since your original post and love it. My husband says it is the best macaroni and cheese ever. I made this earlier this week and enjoyed the leftovers for several lunches. Today I still had some of the cheese chunks and roasted butternut squash leftover and I made a grilled cheese out of them. Awesome! I am still feeling guilty for eating the whole sandwich.

Merrill

over 1 year ago merrill

Merrill is a co-founder of food52.

So glad you've been enjoying it! I'm thinking it's about that time again...

Henrykiss

over 1 year ago arielleclementine

Butternut squash showed up at the farmers market this week, and I couldn't get your recipe out of my head. So we threw caution to the wind and savored this mac and cheese on a 104 degree day in late July. We all agreed it was the best we'd ever tasted. Thanks for the recipe!

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almost 2 years ago cindymd

I saw this recipe and knew that I had to try it, but couldn't stand the thought of 2 c of heavy cream in our main dish. So, I substituted low-fat cottage cheese and it worked great! I just pureed it with the squash. My kids loved this cheese and they both hate any kind of squash. I will be making this again for sure...

Raquel4

over 1 year ago RaquelG

Love this lightening idea!

Sugar.board

about 2 years ago thebreukelenlife

In regards to the cream substitute, I was thinking about using half milk and half cream in hopes of making it a little healthier. Do you think it would hard the texture too much? There's so much cheese I don't see how it would hurt.

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about 2 years ago GunwallsLizzie

This pasta is amazing! There seemed to be a little too much cheese mixture for the amount of pasta when I made it so when I make it next time I will try adding a bit more pasta, but the taste was out of this world!

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about 2 years ago Ms. T

Yay Al Forno! As a Rhode Islander living in California, I will be delighted to try this next time I'm homesick. Thanks for sharing.

Dscn4729

about 2 years ago AlizaEss

I made a light version of this over the week by just sauteing red kuri squash puree with pasta + olive oil + a pat of butter + sage+ a little beaten egg. I put crushed walnuts on top of my dish, and my gentleman friend put some hot sauce on his. The squash puree makes this dish nice and creamy without being too heavy from the dairy (cheaper, too!).

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about 2 years ago Koeiseun

Just made this today! Had to settle for canned pumpkin, as I couldn't find fresh pumpkins of any type....but it was still awesome!
Thanks Merrill! :-)

Merrill

about 2 years ago merrill

Merrill is a co-founder of food52.

So glad you liked it!

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about 2 years ago STEsker

Not sure if you are online right now, but when you added salt with the cheeses and thyme, how much did you put in? I've just put in a few turns of my salt mill.... Thanks!

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about 2 years ago Koeiseun

Good question, as I was wondering the same thing. Needed to add some after the prep, as I only put in a bit. Not a big deal...you can always add...but never remove!

Merrill

about 2 years ago merrill

Merrill is a co-founder of food52.

So sorry, but I've been out of the country for 2 weeks -- I salt my pasta water generously and then salt to taste as I go. Best thing is to taste the pumpkin cheese mixture before you combine with the pasta.

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over 2 years ago betsysbites

do you think you could use evaporated milk or half and half in place of the cream?

Merrill

over 2 years ago merrill

Merrill is a co-founder of food52.

I think half and half would be fine, but not sure about evaporated milk.

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3 months ago fearlessem

Just chiming in to say that I made this tonight with evaporated milk (full-fat milk, not reduced fat), and it worked just fine. I reduced the baking temp to 425 and baked it for longer (20 minutes covered, a few minutes uncovered), as I thought 500 degrees might curdle the milk...