#9. World Market Pumpkin Pasta Sauce

Continuing on my evaluation of World Market's pumpkin products, I recently tested their pumpkin pasta sauce.  Lovers of Italian cuisine know that choosing the right type of pasta to go with your sauce (or vice versa) is terribly important; Mario Batali has argued that pasta is just a vehicle for sauce and to some extent I agree with him.

Because I wanted my pumpkin sauce to adhere thoroughly to my pasta, I selected miniature rotelle, otherwise known as "wagon wheels," a highly textured circular noodle.

Al dente pasta meets sauce.

Success was evident as soon as I began to combine the thick sauce with the al dente rotelle, for when I extracted individual wheels they were evenly coated with sauce.

Then, in part for shits and giggles, but mostly because it was Saturday and I had time, I roasted a baby pumpkin to garner extra squash flesh and a handy serving dish for the my dinner.

Pumpkin in a pumpkin.

I dressed my rotelle with some dried dill and a healthy dose of parmesan, both of which historically have proved complementary to pumpkin in my cooking experience. 

The sauce was a one-hit wonder with regards to flavor; intense pumpkin with no distraction from other spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg. A lovely change from other adulterated sauces I have tried that tend to confuse the palate.  The dill contributed some additional botanical, salty notes and the cheese  increased the overall creaminess.

Well done, World Market (or whatever other unnamed business you contracted with to produce this sauce).