1 Shares

Our pumpkin stew is fragrant and flavorful with savory guanciale, sweet Medjool dates, and tortellini pasta. This gorgeous, velvety stew is highly appealing and hard to stop eating. Try to resist consuming the whole dish, as it tastes even better the next day.
It’s a unique pumpkin stew in a one-pot meal, ready in thirty minutes.

If you love our pumpkin stew, you will also love this tortellini pasta salad, our pasta amatriciana, or this squash galette!

A skillet with pumpkin stew with tortellini and a spoon, with herbs and spices on a table, overview.

Why you should make this pumpkin stew

Easy to Make: This pumpkin stew is a delicious meal made in just thirty minutes.
Traditional Greek stuffing inspired the flavors. We had leftover ingredients at Christmas and decided to use them all by making this stew. The result was so successful we made it three times additional times that week, substituting ingredients to find out what worked best.
It has easy to replace ingredients with a variety of pantry items.

Here is what you need

All the ingredients for making pumpkin stew on a butcher block.

Pumpkin. For a fast dinner, I get the precut, already-steamed pumpkin at my local grocery store. You can certainly cook the pumpkin yourself. Great substitutes are butternut squash or sweet potatoes.
Guanciale. It is an Italian cured meat product prepared from pork cheeks. It is used in making authentic carbonara pasta. It has a strong flavor, but you can substitute it with pancetta or thick bacon for a milder result.
Broth. Chicken or vegetable.
Medjool dates. They are a large, sweet variety of dates from Morocco, but they grow in the US and other countries. These dates are luxurious and sweet with an intense caramel flavor. Suitable substitutes are dried figs, prunes, apricots, and raisins.
Chestnuts. I love having precooked chestnuts in my pantry ready to use. Alternatively, you can use hazelnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts.
Parmesan cheese and heavy cream.
Fresh tortellini pasta. Fresh tortellini filled with prosciutto is my go-to, but other fillings will work just as well.

How to make this pumpkin stew

Gunchiale cut in bite size pieces on a butcher block. — Prep. Chop the guanciale into bite-size pieces. Chop the onion and garlic, and herbs. Cut the chestnuts into four pieces and chop roughly the Medjool dates.

Guinciale pieces in a deep sauce pan. — Place a medium-large pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the guanciale and cook until the edges have caramelized.

Guinciale pieces in a deep sauce pan with chopped onion and garlic. — Add the onion and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.

Pumpkin cubes and guanciale pieces
chopped onion and garlic in a deep sauce pan. — Add the cubed pumpkin with the chopped herbs.

Pumpkin cubes and guanciale pieces
chopped onion and garlic in broth in a deep sauce pan. — Pour in the stock.

Pumpkin stew with chopped chestnuts and dates on top in a deep sauce pan. — Add the chopped chestnuts and dates, stir and simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

Pumpkin stew with tortellini in a deep sauce pan. — Follow with the heavy cream and parmesan, and tortellini. Cook in high medium heat until the tortellini is fully cooked, about five minutes.

A deep large sauce pan pumpkin stew with tortellini and a spoon, a napkin and a plate with herbs and spices.

Your fantastic one-pan pumpkin stew is ready. Serve immediately with more parmesan on the table. It makes great leftovers; add a bit of broth or cream to the pan and warm up slowly on the stove.