Skinny Pumpkin Alfredo

Fall is officially in full swing over here at the Chesson household, people. I’ve got my fall placemats out, my ceramic pumpkin on the kitchen table, my pumpkin scented candles strategically placed in various locations around the house…you name it, IT’S HAPPENING. And I am loving every second of it while basking in this wonderful fall weather. Speaking of fall weather…I’m obsessed. Obsessed. That is all.

This recipe is a deliciously perfect spinoff of my Skinny Chicken Alfredo, sans chicken, add pumpkin and bacon. Um…yes please?  I will now confess something to you that stamps “Fall Traitor” across my forehead in bright pumpkin-orange letters…I don’t actually like the flavor of pumpkin very much. Just kick me out of the fall fan club STAT, people. But, since I love fall so much, I refuse to not use pumpkin every three seconds. The solution? Include it in recipes so that you get pumpkin elements, but not an overwhelming pumpkin flavor.

So, all you pumpkin lovers out there: this is for you. All you pumpkin haters? This is for you. Catch my drift? It’s perfect for anyone and everyone. The pumpkin gives the alfredo a depth of flavor along with a nice earthiness. Throw some bacon in there, and you literally have heaven in a bowl. HEAVEN. In. A. Bowl.

Here’s the thing about alfredo sauce…you can either use butter, white pasta, cups of heavy cream, handfuls and handfuls of parmesan cheese, and call it a day, OR you can use whole wheat pasta, 2% milk, very little parmesan cheese, olive oil instead of butter, and have a pot of alfredo that is literally just as delicious. My trick is one tiny, simple, baby ingredient that somehow gives the flavor of rich, creamy, velvety alfredo sauce without the fat and calories: garlic powder. Why? No idea. But it works miracles in alfredo sauce.

Throw some bacon and pumpkin in there, and you have the most delicious, fall-y, creamy, mouthwatering alfredo sauce in the world. Do you ever have those meals where, as you are eating them, you’re thinking, “This is so good I want to run down the street and aggressively force-shove a bowl of it into everyone’s faces so they can taste the magical-ness of what I’m eating”?

If you’ve never experienced this, try this pasta. Please and thank you. Goodbye.

So Boone’s daycare requires him to be fully updated on his shots in order for him to hang out there all week, which is totally understandable. The problem? I have zero time during the week to bring little Boonie to the vet, so he has been out of daycare for about a week and a half now until I can get around to the vet and shoot him up with dem meds.

The result = the most hyper Boone of all time. Poor dude is just hanging around my house all day while I’m at work. So he has developed a new hobby: chewing up makeup brushes. It’s his new found passion.

I came home one day last week, and there was a desiccated makeup brush with fragments splintered all over my living room floor. COOOOL, Boone…thanks. So I hunted down a random makeup brush that I had laying around somewhere in my bathroom closet, thinking it was just a fluke that Boone found and destroyed my first one.

FALSE. I come home the next day, and what do I find? That’s right. My second makeup brush in fragments all over my living room floor again. You don’t know true dog struggles until you have used a partially chewed make up brush on your face until you can make it to the store to buy a second one. STRUG.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get him to the vet and back to daycare soon so he can go back to being my sweet, calm, cuddly pup.

He did also chew up a tupperware with some remaining Skinny Pumpkin Alfredo in it. He is trying to watch his figure and stay trim for the lady dogs at daycare. This pumpkin alfredo = human and dog approved.

Skinny Pumpkin Alfredo

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Annie Chesson
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Yield: 6 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 box of whole wheat spaghetti
• 5 slices bacon
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups 2% milk
• 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin

Instructions

1. Bring a pot of SALTED (it should taste like the ocean) water to a boil. When boiling, add your pasta and cook according to package instructions
2. Meanwhile, cook your bacon in a large saute pan
3. When the bacon is cooked and crispy, remove from the pan, set aside to drain over several layers of paper towels, and discard the bacon fat. Using several paper towels, wipe out the inside of the saute pan to remove any extra grease
4. To the same pan, add your olive oil and flour. Whisk together and let cook for about 30 seconds, just to cook out that raw flour flavor
5. To this, add your milk. Bring to a light simmer, and let cook for several minutes until slightly thickened (the cheese and pumpkin will thicken it further)
6. Remove from the heat and whisk in your pumpkin and parmesan cheese
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper
8. Add your cooked/drained pasta to the pan with the sauce (if your saute pan isn’t big enough, you can use your pasta-cooking-pot to mix everything together)
9. Crumble your bacon and add it on top of the finished pasta

Nutrition info is for 1 1/2 cup servings of Pumpkin Alfredo.

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

In the mood for more pumpkin-y goodness? Check these out:

Pumpkin Chili

Pumpkin, Maple Pancakes with Brown Sugar Spiced Walnuts

Potato Pumpkin Soup with Bacon