Pepita Fettucini with Spinach and Cranberries
October 11th, 2007
Stumble it!
Is the idea of a fall-food flavored pasta weird? If it is, then I love weird pasta.
In an effort to get excited about autumn, I’ve been doing my best to pick up some new ingredients. Goodness knows I’m not looking forward to winter, so food may be the only way I can actually celebrate the changing of the seasons. One of the ingredients I picked up was a little tub of organic pepitas. Pepitas are pumpkin seeds, and they are usually sold with the white hull removed, revealing a smooth olive green seed. If you decide to use pumpkin seeds from the pumpkins you carve this year, be sure to wash and dry the seeds throughly and roast them in a low oven for an hour or so until dry and toasty. Don’t worry about removing the white hull.
This pasta is flavored with tamari and maple syrup, but only a little of each. This coats the pasta and gives it a nice, balanced sweet flavor without actually being a full-on sauce. The spinach is sauteed with red pepper flakes for a bit of heat, the cranberries add a pop of sweet tanginess, and the crushed pepitas round the whole thing out. It’s really a lovely meal, and what’s more, it’s super easy to prepare. It should only take as long to make this dish as the pasta takes to cook.
I made it for lunch, so this recipe only serves one. It should be very easy to increasing the servings should you want to make it for more than one person.
Pepita Fettucini with Spinach and Cranberries
Serves One
Fettucini for One (which, is it just me, or is that 1/2 the box that “serves 8″?)
1/3 Cup Raw, Unsalted Pepitas
1 Tbs Oil
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
2 Large Handfuls Spinach, torn
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Maple Syrup
2-3 Fresh Thyme Sprigs, optional
1/4 Cup Dried Cranberries
Begin by bringing a pot of salted water to boil. While the water is heating, run the pepitas around in your food processor until pretty finely chopped. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add spinach. Use tongs to coat the spinach in the hot oil. Add the red pepper flakes, the tamari and maple syrup, and the thyme if you’re using it. Toss in the cranberries and mix everything up really well. Turn heat to low (or just turn it off and cover it until your pasta is cooked).
Drain pasta and add it to your skillet. Add crushed pepitas and toss well until everything is coated. Taste a noodle and see if you need an extra splash of tamari and/or maple syrup. The noodles should look like they don’t have a sauce on them, but they’ll taste like they do.
Serve immediately.
23 Comments
1. the village vegan | October 11th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
That looks SO YUMMY. There’s nothing wierd at all about making fall flavored pasta…
Also, I admire you for making lunch for just yourself! I usually just have left overs or something that’s totally boring to make.
2. Cedar | October 11th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
What a beautiful and colorful dish. I will have to pick up some spinach and dried cranberries this weekend when I go grocery shopping!
3. Cath | October 11th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
It looks so delicious *–* I might make it someday :)
4. Rural Vegan | October 11th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
How colorful, and the best part is that I have all these ingredients on hand right now. This may be dinner tonight, thanks!
5. Lisa | October 11th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I’m so glad you said that about the pasta serving size! I always wondered if I was a serious pasta hog and everyone else was somehow satisfied with a few forkfuls of pasta. :) This dish looks awesome, by the way.
6. S. from The Student Stomach | October 11th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
That’s so funny! I just ate a big bowl of spinach and cranberries for lunch today!
7. Aubrey | October 11th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Oh my, you made my mouth water just looking at your
scrumptious pasta pictures.
I would never think pasta was weird.
8. Lindsay | October 11th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
I can’t wait for the Sunday farmers’ market. This looks incredible!
9. Claire | October 12th, 2007 at 8:31 am
My jaw dropped at this picture – it looks so deliciously gorgeous! If it weren’t 930 AM i’d be heading straight to the market to go buy some thyme and cranberries – but that will have to wait at least an hour or two.
10. Alexandra Coursen | October 12th, 2007 at 9:07 am
I am making it this weekend; sent it to my daughter in england who loves these flavors. yum yum
11. VeggieGirl | October 12th, 2007 at 10:14 am
wow, this looks MAGNIFICENT – as a lover of all kinds of pasta, there is nothing weird about this dish at all!! I love the combination of spinach and cranberries.
12. jessica~ | October 12th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Mmmmm… it looks delicous! I love fall veggies & pasta (roasted butternut squash & pasta is my ultimate favorite).
I do have an abundance of pepitas in my home right now… yum!
13. Hillary | October 12th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
That truly looks wonderful. I swear you can make any dish better by adding cranberries – I will never get sick of them!
14. lella | October 13th, 2007 at 1:28 am
I know better than to come here at this time of night. It’s too late to be reading here. I’ll have to go out and cook this right now! It’s so beautiful, who can resist, even at 11:30.
15. Zlamushka | October 14th, 2007 at 2:40 am
Wow, what an interesting combo. Spinach and cranberries. Y dont u submit this to Garden Cook Event? This months theme is cranberries. The pic looks gorgeous.
16. Autumnal Pasta Salad | Jo&hellip | October 16th, 2007 at 7:49 am
[...] inspired by this post in VeganYumYum (it looks positively delicious, but I didn’t have a lot of the stuff on hand), I threw [...]
17. Jenny | October 16th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Hey! We tried this over the weekend, and it was great! Thanks so much for the delicious recipe! :)
18. karrie | October 24th, 2007 at 9:14 am
This looks great!
I’m a big fan of experimental pasta, but combining maple syrup and tamari never occurred to me.
19. Sophie | January 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Hello,
Just popping by to say we tried this and it was gorgeous. Loved the sweetness and it was a nice change to have the spinach cooked in a little oil rather than in a watery way. I made one little swop – sour cherries instead of cranberries
20. KT | October 13th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Found this digging around in the archive, looking for something ELSE to do with the chard abundance in the garden- so…substituted chard for spinach- kept everything else- a HUGE success with the fam’. Also the first time there hasnt been a dish with onions/garlic etc on the table!
Thanks
21. rachel! | October 24th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to drop in to say how much I LOVE this recipe! I made it for myself last year shortly after you posted it, and a few weeks later for a potluck (using spiral noodles instead of fettucini). I’m making it for another potluck this Sunday, and I am SO excited to be bringing it. Even though your recipe calls for serving immediately, I found it held up really well on a buffet.
Thank you!!
22. SB | February 15th, 2010 at 1:55 am
Made this tonight for Valentine’s Day, and it came out wonderfully. Was extremely simple to make, and had a very unique taste–a pasta dish with a new taste is something remarkable indeed.
23. vegan sprout | March 9th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Today was the second time I made this dish after drooling over the photo in your book. It is oh so easy and very very tasty! Love your blog and book with their beautiful photos… makes me want to make every dish. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next!!