Instructions

1. Pour olive oil into a pan big enough to hold all of the pasta later. Heat over medium heat and add the pancetta. Cook over medium heat, so that all the fat melts and the pancetta begins to turn golden. Scoop out the pancetta with a slotted spoon and place in a small bowl.
2. Add the onion, salt and pepper to the pork fat. Cook on medium low heat until the onions are very tender, but not browned. About 15 minutes. Add the grated pumpkin, and stir, raising the heat. Add the reserved pancetta back to the pan.
3. In the meantime bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook until almost done.
4. Keep stirring the pumpkin while the pasta is cooking, adding some of the pasta cooking water to the pan to help cook the pumpkin.
5. When the pasta is done, drain reserving 2 cups of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta to the pan with the pumpkin, raising the heat and stirring. Add a cup of the reserved water, to let the flavors blend, and to finish cooking the pasta. Taste for doneness, and add more of the water if you need it.
6. You can top with grated parmigiano, but I don’t think it’s needed. Instead, I prefer just a bit of hot pepper.