Creamy Seminole Pumpkin Cajun Shrimp Pasta 🍤

This is one I will pay for ten times over.

I know when you hear pumpkin and Cajun pasta in the same sentence it does not sound right. Hear me out.

The pumpkin does not go in as chunks. It gets roasted and pureed and stirred straight into the sauce, and what it does is add body. It makes the sauce thicker and silkier than heavy cream can do on its own, with just a little sweetness underneath the Cajun heat. You would not know it was pumpkin if nobody told you.

We started this run with Soup Joumou, then went sweet with pumpkin bread. This one goes somewhere completely different.

Three things that make this dish

• Roast the pumpkin, do not boil it. Boiling puts water into it and washes the flavor out. In a soup I will boil it. Not here. This sauce needs all the richness the pumpkin has.
• Save your shrimp shells. Boil the shells in your salted pasta water for five to ten minutes, strain them out, then cook the pasta in that same water. You just made seafood stock for free and it goes into every noodle.
• The sausage was not my idea. I was not going to put sausage in it. People told me it is not Cajun pasta without sausage. They were right.

What You Need

• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 12 oz pasta
• 1 1/2 cups roasted Seminole pumpkin puree. About half a small pumpkin
• 2 to 4 Cajun or andouille sausages, sliced (optional but do it)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning, divided
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• Cayenne or crushed red pepper, if you like heat. I like heat

How I Made It

1. Roast the pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds, put it cut side down on a parchment lined sheet.

Roast 40 to 50 minutes, until a fork goes through the flesh with no fight.

Let it cool, scoop the flesh off the skin and puree it smooth. No liquid added. Measure out 1 1/2 cups.

Whatever is left over, freeze it or use it in something else that week.

2. Clean and season the shrimp

If your bag does not say cleaned, you are cleaning them. Jumbo shrimp especially. Pull the shells, then split down the back and take out that dark line. It is tedious and it is worth it.

Keep the shells. They are going in the pasta water.

Pat the shrimp as dry as you can get them. Wet shrimp will not take seasoning and will not brown. Season with about half a tablespoon of the Cajun seasoning and a little of the smoked paprika, every inch of them, and let them sit while you do everything else.

3. Make the shrimp stock and cook the pasta

Salt a pot of water and drop the shrimp shells in. Boil 5 to 10 minutes.

Strain the shells out, bring the water back to a boil, cook 12 oz of pasta until al dente.

Reserve about half a cup of that pasta water before you drain. Toss the drained pasta with a little butter or olive oil so it does not glue itself together.

4. Brown the sausage

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Slice the sausage and brown it 4 to 5 minutes, both sides. Take it out and set it aside.

5. Cook the shrimp

Add a tablespoon of butter to the same pan and lay the shrimp in.

One to two minutes a side. That is it. Do not walk away from the stove for this part, and do not keep flipping them around. Get them out of the pan the second they are done or they turn to rubber in the sauce later.

6. Peppers and onions

Last tablespoon of butter, then the red pepper, green pepper and onion. Sauté 4 to 5 minutes until they soften but still have some bite.

Garlic goes in for the last 30 seconds. Do not put it in early, it burns and turns bitter.

7. Build the sauce

Stir in the 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree. It is going to look thick and pasty. That is fine, that is what is supposed to happen.

Add the rest of the Cajun seasoning, the smoked paprika and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Stir it smooth and let it cook a couple of minutes.

8. Make it creamy

Turn the heat down to medium low and stir in the heavy cream. Let it simmer gently 2 to 3 minutes. Do not let it boil hard or the cream can break on you.

Stir in the Parmesan until it melts in.

Taste it now, before you salt it. The sausage and the Parmesan both bring salt with them and you can overdo it fast. This is also where I add cayenne and crushed red pepper.

9. Bring it together

Pasta into the sauce, toss until every noodle is coated. Too thick, add the reserved pasta water a splash at a time.

Sausage back in. Shrimp on top at the very end, tossed just long enough to warm through.

Grate more Parmesan over the top and take it to the table.

Questions about this one

Does it taste like pumpkin?

No. It tastes like a really good creamy Cajun sauce. The pumpkin gives you the body and a little sweetness that balances the heat. My family did not know until I told them.

Can I use canned pumpkin?

You can. Use plain pumpkin puree, not pie filling, or your pasta will taste like dessert.

What other squash works?

Butternut, calabaza or kabocha. Roast it the same way and measure the same 1 1/2 cups.

Do I have to use sausage?

No, it is good without it. But it is better with it.

Can I make it without shrimp?

Chicken works. Slice it thin, season it the same way, brown it and set it aside like the shrimp. You will lose the shell stock trick, so use chicken broth for your pasta water flavor instead.

How spicy is it?

That is on you and your Cajun seasoning. I add cayenne and crushed red pepper on top of it because I like hot. Leave both out and it is mild enough for kids.

Why did my sauce break?

Too much heat after the cream went in. Keep it at a gentle simmer once the cream is in the pan.

Leftovers

Fridge, airtight, 3 days. Cream sauces tighten up cold, so reheat it low with a splash of milk or broth and stir it back together.

I would not freeze this one. Cream sauce and shrimp both come back out of the freezer wrong.

Still not done with this pumpkin

Next up is Seminole Pumpkin Bread Pudding with gingersnaps, and that one might be my favorite of the whole run.

If you make this pasta, come tell me how it went, and tell me if your people could taste the pumpkin. Mine could not.