Spicy Shrimp Pumpkin Rigatoni Perfect for Fall
Spicy pumpkin sauce on pasta? Yes please! This creamy shrimp pumpkin rigatoni takes less than 30 minutes and has so much flavor from the sauce! The perfect cozy dish for that quick, weeknight dinner and looks too good on the plate!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rigatoni
- 1 pound shrimp peeled, deveined, and tail off
- 7.75 ounces Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Red Peppers drained and diced
- ½ onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- ¼ cup hot sauce
- ⅓ cup parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes plus more for seasoning
- shredded parmesan cheese to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to directions. Before the water starts to boil, add about a tablespoon of salt and olive oil into the water. Stir the pasta to prevent sticking and drain when ready.
- Using a food processor, finely chop the onion, garlic cloves, and Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Red Peppers (recommended approach). In a large sauté pan over medium heat, add olive oil. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and red pepper to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3-4 minutes until just softened.
- Add the shrimp and sauté in the pan for 5-6 minutes. Once the shrimp is slightly cooked, add the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, hot sauce and red chili flakes. Stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil. Once the sauce starts to boil, lower to medium-low heat and simmer covered for 5-7 minutes. See note below.
- Add the chopped parsley and shredded parmesan cheese to taste. Stir until the parmesan cheese melts. Season with additional red chili flakes if needed. When serving, spoon the shrimp pumpkin sauce on top of the cooked rigatoni. Top with additional parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Enjoy!
Notes
- In this shrimp pumpkin rigatoni recipe, I used frozen shrimp. If using fresh shrimp, you can sauté for less than the 5-6 minutes as fresh shrimp cooks quicky. Be sure to have the shrimp peeled, deveined, AND with the tail-off.
- For a quicker time save option, we love using the Trader Joe’s Minced Garlic. No need to peel or mince the garlic!
- Using a food processor leads to a BETTER consistency in this pumpkin puree pasta. When adding the onion, garlic, and even the roasted peppers, I like to run it in the food processor until a finely chopped consistency is reached. Not mushy, finely chopped!
- See Sam’s Pro Tips for this Shrimp Pumpkin Rigatoni for further detail.