Creamy Pumpkin Sauce (Dairy-Free)
I’m not going to lie, going into October I was pumped for pumpkin season. I crave the assortment of pumpkin pies, pumpkin lattes, and pumpkin cheesecakes… On the other hand coming into January I can officially say I am pumpkined out. But there we have it, one last can of pumpkin purée sitting alone on the shelf just begging to be used. Now, after the holidays the last thing I need is more sugar, so pie is officially off the market (for now). And while I usually do a nice green pesto or a traditional tomato sauce…
I said “I could make a pumpkin sauce.”
Pumpkin and sage are a match made in heaven, why don’t more people do savoury pumpkin dishes? After whipping up this sauce the first time I didn’t have high expectations. I was just using up what was left on the shelf before grocery day… and I can officially say that I am no longer pumpkined out. This sauce was a pleasant surprise, even Ben brought it up to a few friends. Its creamy, its savoury and the slightest bit naturally sweet. I may have to bring pumpkin into my year round routine now.
So if you’re in the same boat or just want to try something different than a normal tomato sauce, you need to try this! Creamy Pumpkin Sauce will forever go into my recipe book to be used time and time again. And when I tell you this sauce pairs so well with gnocchi… you need to try it. You will impress your guests and they will never believe how quick and easy it whips up!
Creamy Pumpkin Sauce (Dairy-Free)
Ingredients:
1 can (or 2 cups pumpkin)
1 cup chicken stock
1 head garlic
1 400 mL can light coconut milk
1 large onion
1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil (or olive oil)
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp cinnamon
salt
pepper
Instructions:
In a skillet add olive oil and turn stove on to medium high heat. While oil is heating up, finely dice your onion. Add onion to pan once oil is hot and caramelize your onions. Lower heat if pan is too hot, you do not want to burn your onions (a lot of your flavour will come from the caramelization).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and wrap your head of garlic into foil; the top of the garlic head cut off to expose the cloves. Bake garlic for 20 minutes.
Once your onions are caramelized, deglaze the pan with your chicken stock making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to release any of the browning from the onions (aka all the flavour!) Add your poultry seasoning and cinnamon into pan and cook down for 5 minutes. Transfer mixture into blender. Take your roasted garlic from the oven and squeeze the roasted cloves into the blender and blend until smooth. Fresh sage would work beautifully in this in place of the poultry seasoning.
Add blended mixture back into the hot pan along with your pumpkin and coconut milk. Stir on stove until heated, add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy over gnocchi, pasta, lasagna or rice!
Tip: Feel free to add in turmeric for added colour and health benefits.
Tip: Add 1.5 cups of shredded cheese to turn this recipe into a kid-friendly pumpkin mac and cheese sauce!
