Ital Pumpkin Rasta Pasta

Pumpkin Everythang!

What is rasta pasta? The general consensus is that it’s any pasta dish which utilizes the colors of the Rastafarian flag, yellow , red and green. I notice when you google rasta pasta, the results are filled with a whole bunch of pasta recipes which contain meat. I have to admit I found it quite amusing, since the true Rastafari is vegan. Some die hearted ones don’t even use heat to cook their food, let alone top their pasta with grilled chicken. So I decided I would stick to what I’m sure is the origin and make a vegan, Rasta pasta.

I think I did ok on the rasta colors. I didn’t have any true yellow, because the grocery store was out of yellow bell pepper  (I Blame hurricane Mathew for that) So I used the orange pumpkins and carrots instead. My green came from the green bell pepper and the okra, and my red from the tomatoes and one of my green bell peppers that had started to turn red. 

Generally when I make a white sauce (bechamel) it starts with the butter and flour then the milk or cream. I had to do away with all that, coconut milk and coconut oil are the perfect substitutes for cow’s milk and butter. The béchamel did not get as thick as it usually does with the traditional ingredients however  it was very rich in flavor, not to mention smooth and velvety. As long as you keep  whisking that mixture while you slowly stream in the coconut milk, you can’t go wrong.

You can tell how really velvety and creamy it is in the video after I add the pasta. The flavors were amazing. It had a lot of depth yet was still very subtle. You will notice that I did not pre-cook the peppers and carrots before adding to the pasta. Now-a-days when I make pasta that has carrots in it, I never pre- cook the carrot. I always add them in raw and let the heat of the pasta warm it. That way you will have carrots with some bite to them even when you reheat your left overs. 

Ingredients (Printable ingredient list)

To cook the pumpkin

3 ½  tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped tomato

2 cup chopped pumpkin

1 cup chopped okra

½ teaspoon Black pepper

¾ teaspoon Allspice

1 teaspoon Onion powder

1 teaspoon Smoked paprika

¾ - 1 teaspoon  Salt

Bechamel and to finish

¼ cup coconut oil

2 garlic cloves shredded

¼ cup flour

1 ½ can coconut milk

2-3 pinches of salt

1 large carrot sliced

1 red or green bell pepper sliced

1 Box penne pasta cooked

 Xoxo Greedygirl