Pumpkin Sausage Baked Pasta

Pumpkin season has definitely begun!  I'm starting to see pumpkin-everything recipes all over the place.  I love it.  My "Fall Recipes" board on Pinterest is overflowing with it.  The sweet pumpkin recipes all look very good, but the savory ones really pique my interest.  I love using pumpkin in savory recipes.  See examples: Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce, Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins, and Pumpkin Sage Polenta.  I still love all of those, but I have a new favorite savory pumpkin dish now.  Pumpkin+Sausage+Pasta=Yummy!  It's slightly adapted from From Apples to Zucchini.

Pumpkin Sausage Baked Pasta

Ingredients:

1 lb. Italian turkey sausage (90% lean)

1 tbsp olive oil

¾ cup onion, chopped

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1 tsp Northwoods Seasoning

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree (2 cups)

1¼ cup reduced-sodium chicken stock

Pinch salt

⅓ cup 2% milk

¾ lb. penne or rotini, cooked

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat cooked through, about 8 minutes.  Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and set aside.  (If using regular pork sausage, drain fat from cooked sausage, keeping 1 tbsp to soften the onions.  Don't use the olive oil called for in the next step.)

Add oil to the skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, Northwoods seasoning, and oil to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until soft; about 3 minutes.

Stir in pumpkin puree and chicken stock. Mix together and add salt. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Stir in milk and sausage.  Simmer until the sauce comes together and is thickened slightly.

Add cooked pasta to the skillet and gently toss all the ingredients together to coat.

Place in 2.5 quart casserole dish and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake for 35 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Information

Per Serving

One serving = 1/6 of recipe

Calories: 392

Fat/Sat. Fat: 10g/3g

Cholesterol: 56mg

Carbs: 42g

Fiber: 4g

Protein: 24g

Note: Nutrition information was calculated by me and is approximate, depending on specific ingredients used. It does not include the "pinch of salt" listed in the ingredients.

I am sharing this recipe with you today as part of another great blog hop hosted by Savannah of Hammock Tracks.  Today we are all sharing "Pumpkin Delights".  This dish really is a delight!  I like to use Northwoods Seasoning in it, which is a Penzey's blend.  If you don't have that, first, get yourself to a Penzey's stat!, but you could also use sage instead.  It goes well with the sausage and the pumpkin.

The first time I made this recipe (see above), I used the full 1 lb. of pasta called for.  I found it to be a little bit dry.  You can see the difference between the two photos.  I like it better with ¾ lb. and I think it still easily feeds six.  You can use any short-cut pasta that you like. I've done penne and rotini, and the original recipe used farfalle.  They are all great in here.

I started making this with lean turkey sausage and no one could tell the difference.  The completed dish still has a good amount of fat, but it's much better than if you use regular sausage.

I hope you're still hungry for pumpkin, because I've got another awesome savory pumpkin recipe coming up for you on Monday!