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
Meanwhile, cook your bacon in a large saute pan
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
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
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)
Remove from the heat and whisk in your pumpkin and parmesan cheese
Season to taste with salt and pepper
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)
Crumble your bacon and add it on top of the finished pasta