Here's some background on why this recipe came about. I had something similar at a cafe here but it wasn't great. So when my mum bought a pumpkin and made a puree, I took advantage of it to make some salted egg yolk pumpkin pasta. I believe that this dish is what they meant to serve me that day.
If you're a fan of salted egg yolk, this recipe is a must-try. If you're not into pumpkin, no worries, the flavor is really mild here. You get the creamy texture from the salted egg yolk though it's not as salty as you'd think it would be. It could be quite healthy too - substitute the chorizo with fresh meat and make sure you use real pumpkin puree.
Serves 2
1 cup pumpkin puree/unsweetened pumpkin pie filling
2 salted egg yolks
10 sticks of asparagus or any other vegetables of your choice
2 tbsp parmesan cheese powder
2 pcs chorizo, sliced thinly
2 cloves shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
A bunch of curry leaves
Prepare 1 frying pan to cook the ingredients and another deep pot to boil your pasta.
Separate the egg yolk from the egg whites
Steam or be lazy and microwave the egg yolks for 30 seconds. Be sure to mash it up a little before putting it into the microwave or it'll explode in the microwave.
Cut the asparagus into shorter pieces, 2 inches or so. Discard the ends.
In the frying pan:
Fry the chorizo in a tbsp of oil. Chorizo has it's own oil as well so don't put in any oil beyond that tablespoon. Put aside.
(Note: I forgot to fry the chorizo first so I ended up cooking the egg yolks and chorizo side by side here)
Fry the minced onion and garlic till fragrant then put in the curry leaves for a quick stir so that the fragrance emits from the leaves.
The egg yolks go in next and you'll start to see it bubble once it's ready
In the pasta pot:
A pot of water should already be on a separate fire when you start frying the chorizo.
The pasta goes in once the water boils and once the pasta is al-dente, turn off the fire then throw in the asparagus.
It cooks really quickly so a 2 minute off-fire blanch will do before you drain everything straight into the pasta sauce.
Pour in the pumpkin puree and mix thoroughly. If it gets too thick, pour in a little water and make sure it is brought to a simmer before switching off the fire.
Garnish with more cheese powder and some chilli flakes.
The combination of pumpkin and salted egg yolk definitely works and it's not that difficult to make so do give this a go! Any other meat and vegetables would work with this recipe. I'd like to try it with tomatoes, spinach or even mushrooms. Ham, sliced chicken or pork would work well as well provided they're stir fried beforehand.
Happy Friday and have an awesome weekend!