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When I made my menu plan this month, I had no idea that finding canned pumpkin was going to be such a challenge. I drove to three different grocery stores in search of canned pumpkin and finally cornered a store manager to find out why I was unable to find any. Apparently, I was unaware that there was a canned pumpkin shortage and that most stores are out of this delicious treat until the end of the month or later. .. at least in Indiana!

The kids moped back to the car after being told that pumpkin pancakes and pasta would not be making an appearance at the dinner table. I posted on Facebook my dilemma and wondered what I would even have to write about with no pumpkin to make my recipes.

As we all wondered how our lives would go on without my favorite convenience food, I came home to a grocery bag on my doorstep with four large cans of pumpkin inside. A girlfriend saw a few cans left at her grocery store and dropped them off for me to make my recipes.

That night we dined on pumpkin pasta and dreamed of what we could do with the rest of our pumpkin. The dinner tasted so much more delicious with our extremely rare ingredient. Everything always tastes better when you know that you are using a sacred ingredient, doesn’t it?

I could make my own pumpkin puree, but I admit that I really love the convenience of canned pumpkin in my pantry. If the shortage continues though, I will be making the real deal one of these days. I figure if the worst convenience food on my pantry shelf is canned pumpkin, then I can just pat myself on the back and know that I am doing a good job in the kitchen.

This creamy pumpkin pasta is one of my favorite fall dishes and my entire family loves it. The kids think it looks like macaroni and cheese so it doesn’t take much coaxing to get them to try a bite. My husband loves the turkey sausage and the meaty flavor of this dish. Me? I just love the creamy pumpkin taste in my mouth!

If you are worried about how your family will react to pumpkin pasta, scale the pumpkin back. You can do between 2/3-2 cups of pasta, depending on your personal taste. Start with a little and ease your family into the two cup ratio.

Want to wow your company? Serve this with a loaf of fancy artisan bread and end the meal with a delicious apple crisp. It will be like you are literally eating the season of fall right off of your plate.

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pound package of Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (removed from its casing)
2/3 cup to 2 cups pumpkin puree (depending on your personal taste)
1 can chicken broth
¼ cup half & half
½ cup sour cream (low-fat or fat free)
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
1 tsp sage
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
¼ cup Romano Cheese, shredded
1 pound penne or rotini pasta

In a large skillet sauté the garlic in the olive oil on medium heat. Add the turkey sausage and cook until no longer pink, breaking the meat up with your spoon as you cook it. Remove turkey sausage and garlic from the skillet. Pour the chicken broth into the skillet and deglaze the pan using a wire whisk, to bring up all of the flavors stuck to the pan. Whisk in the half and half, sour cream, pumpkin, and seasonings. Simmer for ten minutes. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain pasta and stir into the pumpkin mixture along with the turkey sausage, simmering for another three minutes or until the sauce thickens and hugs the pasta. Stir in parsley and garnish with Romano and more parsley.

Side Note- If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a little addition of chicken broth until you get it to the right consistency.


Am I the only one feeling the canned pumpkin pinch? Is there a shortage in your area?

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62 Comments

Comments
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    This dish sounds so delicious! I would've never thought to use pumpkin in a dish like this and we love pumpkin and will eat it in almost anything.

    I still have a few cans from last years' great deals around Thanksgiving so I'm not sure on a shortage.

    Take Care,

    Trixie

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    No pumpkin here either. ugh!

    I think there was a study of sorts done about homemade pumpkin and canned pumpkin (by America's Test Kitchen), that said in the end, canned pumpkin tasted the same but with less work…so I vote for canned myself! lol

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    I am in Michigan but I have no idea if we have a shortage or not. I usually stock up around the holidays when it is on sale. I still have 4 cans in the pantry from last fall. Maybe I ought to start restocking now if there is a shortage. By the way, the recipe looks divine. :P

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    Amy- Thank you so much for these recipe recommendations. I bookmarked Katie's oatmeal in our notebook because it looked so good. I will have to find that Cooking Light recipe.

    Trixie & Amy- Savor those cans- it is such a treat around here!!

    Lori- I am glad to hear that I am not the only one that loves the convenience of that canned pumpkin. I will make the real stuff if I have to, but I sure love seeing all those cans on my shelf. Now if I can just find some more… ;)

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    That sounds so good! I think this is going on the menu for this week!

    Pumpkin was on sale here a few weeks ago, and I bought some then. I don't think there's a shortage here (in Michigan). But I haven't tried to buy it recently either. :-)

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    I heard about this pumpkin shortage and was shocked and pleased to see a gigantic display at my grocery store last week. I bought two cans b/c it certainly did not look like they'd sell out and there weren't any signs of a shortage.

    I have a similiar recipe and will be serving it up REALLY soon! thanks!

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    Need2Nap- Thanks for finding that chocolate chip pumpkin bread recipe. I am definitely going to try that one too. We can never have too many pumpkin eats around here :)

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    I am so intrigued by this. I bet it is delicious, but I can't say I've ever had anything that looks quite like it. After I get the 63750435784035 other things done after a weekend in SF for BlogHer Food, then I will grocery shop for these ingredients.

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    We are definitely feeling the pinch here in Ohio too. I am a huge pumpkin fanatic, all year round, but especially this time of year! Our Kroger has been out for a month, and the pumpkin patch in our area has about half the pumpkins it normally does – we haven't stopped in yet, but I will definitely be asking them about it to see if our area just had a really bad season this year.

    I'm doing a pumpkin recipe roundup soon, this sounds fabulous and I'll be sure to include it! :)

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    I am in Delaware and had to stop at two stores this weekend in order to find pumpkin. We looove chocolate chip pumpkin muffins this time of year and I had a great Libby's coupon. Thanks for the great recipe!

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    There is a canned pumpkin shortage in Miami Beach, FL. I made ravioli with pumpkin sauce last Friday and had to substitute canned pumpkin pie mix. Too sweet!

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    We have been feeling the pumpkin pinch here in IL. I had vaguely heard of the pumpkin shortage. I have been shopping for weeks without any success. (I never realized how much I love canned pumpkin, and how often I use it, until it was hard to find!) Luckily, I had a can left in the pantry and was able to make pumpkin bread last week.

    Then, I was at Walmart today and they had a ton! I was so happy. I grabbed 8 cans! I am so looking forward to pupkin pancakes, pumpkin bread and pumpkin chili!

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    I always look for pumpkin with the canned veggies but it's always hiding with the pie fillings. Pumpkin is much more than a pie filling!

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    Ahh, the great pumpkin puree shortage of '09. It has been bad here in NH for weeks! I made my last pumpkin pancakes a few weeks back and will probably be waiting for a few more weeks! It's the little things in life.

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    I make my own puree just because the price on canned pumpkin varies so much and I can never seem to get enough of it when it goes on sale!

    I heard that there's also going to be a shortage on whole pumpkins this year, too! I drove by a "sold out" pumpkin patch already today, so I snapped up two big ones for carving when I was at Super Target.

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    Gretchen- I am sure you could substitute it with ground chicken or ground turkey instead without buying the sausage type. I hope that helps!

    Tammy- I am so glad that the dish was a hit! It is definitely a little more than the usual cost, but so worth it for a fancy dinner :)

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    I found pumpkin here in Louisville, KY, after searching three markets. I made the "Creamy Pumpkin Pasta" for dinner tonight. I invited my sister and nieces (ages 5, 8, and 2 years) to join me, because my picky husband cringed when at the thought of pumpkin anything.
    I used vegetarian sausage style crumbles instead of meat and mock chicken broth. It was so delicious, I used two cups of pumpkin and the flavor was not overpowering at all, just creamy yumminess! All of the kids loved it, even my husband said it "wasn't bad", but opted to eat the tomato based back-up sauce. For a man who rarely eats adventurous this was a big step and huge compliment.
    My sister had to have the recipe and I am putting this one in my favorites book. Thanks so much. I am going to try the Pumpkin Waffles with my leftover pumpkin!

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    ArchaeologyKnits- You could definitely substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth!

    Bridget- I love the idea here of substituting the meat with the veggie crumbles to make it vegetarian. I am so honored that this is making it into the book of favorites. Thank you for all the effort to get the pumpkin just to try it. I am so glad it was a hit!!

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    I made this last night, but had to make some substitutions, with ingredients I had on hand. I left out the sage, and parsley, used a little extra sour cream, because I didn't have half and half, and more importantly, used a green onion-pork sausage instead of sweet turkey sausage. It turned out really good and got a lot of compliments from my test subjects. I'll definitely make it again, soon. I'm just glad there was enough for me to take a little for lunch the next day!

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    I had the same problem finding pumpkin – according to whole foods, it was not in stock yet because it is a seasonal item. Though the employee agreed – tis the season!

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    My family loved this dish tonight! We didn't have sausage, so we sauteed onion and garlic with ground turkey, fresh fennel and sage. I added a shredded zucchini in with the pasta, too. It was so tasty, we realized we forgot the cheese! Served with broccoli on the side. My 7 year old swooned and begged us to save enough for her thermos tomorrow! Thank you!

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    No pumpkin here either – I've been to several stores. And, checked several stores in Colorado, finally to find a few cans at one grocery store. I bought two cans and brought them home in my suitcase just in case! I was told by my store that there was a shortage as well!

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    going to make this vegetarian by using veggie broth and Field Roast's Apple Sage sausage – YUM!

    also thinking of making it vegan by substituting tofutti vegan sour cream and coconut milk…potentially delish!

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    Can't wait to try this pasta!!! We have pasta all the time and I am always looking for a creative way to change it up!!

    I always have pumpkin in my cabinet b/c I make pumpkin bread often. It is a family staple in my home. Usually easy to find but I do stock up and around Thanksgiving it is abundant of course!

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    forgot the sage, substituted basil; used cream and milk instead of half and half…. and because i'm paranoid about ground meats cooking through i added the sausage back in while the sauce was halfway done simmering… delicious! =)

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    oh, and i had to call around in order to find the canned pumpkin! :\ although at least i fared better than some of the folks here… it's a shame about the shortage.

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    A friend said she had to drive to three stores here in Chicago to find canned pumpkin because there was some kind of pumpkin blight this year (according to one of the store managers), but I've seen it at all three Aldis in our area.

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    We are having a 4th of July event at church on Sunday and I think this will make a great recipe to bring. I’m always looking for something unique and this definitely is it. Thanks for sharing Amy!

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