Show me someone who doesn’t love fettuccini and I will show you a liar. Or someone with amazing willpower.

Cream. Butter. Cheese. The holy trinity of a delicious, artery-clogging meal.

Unless you make a sauce that is just as creamy and rich, without all the unnecessary cholesterol and saturated fat. Sure, Fettuccini every now and then isn’t a big deal. We are all allowed an over-indulgent meal every now and then. But why? When you can make the same sauce with a fraction of the typical calories and fat, I don’t see the need. Plus, this version allows Fettuccini to be on the menu a lot more often. A win-win if you’re counting.

Since all of my recipes this month have been getting a pumpkin makeover,-fettuccini is no exception. A simple addition of pumpkin, sage, and nutmeg makes this the perfect fall meal- and fancy enough to serve for others. It is so good, it has made the short list of my Thanksgiving menu.

Pumpkin Fettuccini

Ingredients: 
1 lb. fettuccini pasta
1 recipe Pumpkin sauce, below

Bring a lot pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until al dente. Bonus points if you use fresh pasta for this.

Warm the prepared pumpkin sauce in a saucepan. While cooking, add 1/2 cup of the pasta water after the noodles have been cooking for at least 5 minutes. The starches in the water help the sauce to bind to the noodles.

Toss the sauce with the fettuccini. Season with fresh cracked pepper and/or cheese to top.

Pumpkin Sauce: 
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 1 hour
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup water
2 tbsp. parmesan cheese or veggie parmesan

In a high powered blender or food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Add in 1 tsp. dried sage, 1/4 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg and 1/2 cup canned pumpkin. Blend for another minute, until combined.

Mangiamo!