Prepare the pumpkin: peel off its thick skin and remove its large seeds. Wash and steam until soft.

Prepare the spaghetti. Cook spaghetti in a large kettle of boiling salted water according to the package directions (or our instructions), until "al dente" stage.

Prepare the sauce. Meanwhile crush the pumpkin with a fork roughly. Put the olive oil, anchovies, capers, aromatic herbs, cherry tomatoes with their juice and pumpkin into a non-stick frying pan. Season to taste with salt and cook over a medium heat for some minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is well reduced.

The last step. Drain pasta very well and pour into the pan. Stir with a wooden spoon and let it finish cooking with all the ingredients for 1-2 minutes. Once you have switched off the gas, you can add some drops of chilli pepper oil, if you like it.

Note

• - In Italy we find the pumpkin in autumn and winter so Carlo and I freeze it to be able to use in the following months. We clean and steam the pumpkin as we have just told you. We crush the pulp and divide it into the portions we always use. Cube containers are perfect for freezing. So when we have to use the pumpkin for pasta sauce or soups or minestrone we thaw the right quantity. Preserve the frozen pumpkin for 3 months.
• - You can prepare pumpkin one or two days ahead. Clean and steam the pumpkin, cover and refrigerate.
• - Serve this spaghetti dish at lunch. This recipe is ideal when you have no much time to cook.

Healthy eating

• - Daily menu. This pasta recipe can be served at lunch. This is a low calorie spaghetti recipe. In other words it's a light recipe. You can complete the meal with a chicken escalope (100 g - 3 1/2oz), grilled and seasoned with a teaspoon of olive oil, raw seasonal vegetables and fresh fruit.
  We remember pasta should be eaten preferably at lunch and the calories eaten at lunch should be 500 - 700 (30 - 35% of energy needs for an adult if his daily needs are about 2000 calories and he correctly divides his calories into 5 micro-meals).
  Here are the doses per head: 80 g (2 3/4oz) spaghetti, 100 g (3 1/2oz), 150 g (5 1/4oz) pumpkin, 1 anchovy fillet, 1 teaspoon capers, aromatic herbs (chives, parsley and bay leaf) and less than one tablespoon olive oil plus a bit of olive oil infused with hot chilli pepper or a piece of chilli pepper if liked.
• - Special occasion menu. Don't choose this recipe for a complete celebration menu. It's too simple to be chosen for a celebration menu but there is an exception: Halloween menu!
• - This spaghetti dish is a perfect vegetarian (vegan) recipe if you don't use anchovies.
• - If you want to drink a glass of wine remember you have to add 80-85 kCal per 100 ml.
• - If you want to know more about Italian pasta and its nutrition value read this page.
• - We remember you our original home recipes can be made without salt; there is a combination of flavours that substitutes salt. Other no salt recipes ...

What's the right wine for " Spicy spaghetti with pumpkin sauce " ?

Our suggestion is: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cerasuolo (red wine of Abruzzo - Italy)