Pumpkin Sausage Pasta
Italian sausage and a creamy pumpkin sauce tossed with a pound of pasta, on the table in 30 minutes. The pumpkin is in there for body rather than sweetness, so the sauce comes out thick and velvety on only ½ cup of cream. One pot for the pasta, one pan for everything else.
Servings: 6
Calories: 760kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta uncooked
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage mild, casings removed
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the 1 pound of pasta according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the 1 pound of sausage and cook, breaking it into pieces, until browned. Do not drain the fat.
- Add the chopped onion and the 3 minced garlic cloves. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the onion is tender.
- Stir in the ½ teaspoon of nutmeg, the ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, the bay leaf, the ½ teaspoon of oregano, the ½ teaspoon of salt and the ½ teaspoon of pepper. Pour in the 1 cup of white wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
- Add the 1 cup of chicken broth, the 1 cup of canned pumpkin and the ½ cup of heavy cream. Stir and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
- Add the drained pasta to the pan and toss over low heat for about 1 minute, until coated. Remove from the heat, stir in the 1 cup of grated Parmesan, and serve.
Video
Notes
- Start the pasta water first. The sauce takes about as long as the pasta does, so getting the water on before anything else lines the timing up.
- Keep the sausage fat. It seasons the sauce. Draining it gives you a flatter dish.
- Parmesan off the heat. Stirring it into a simmering sauce makes it grainy. Pull the pan off first, and grate it from a block.
- Pasta shape: Rigatoni, penne, bow tie or shells. Something short with ridges or hollows. Long smooth pasta won't hold a sauce this thick.
- Canned pumpkin: Use 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. A 15 ounce can holds about 1¾ cups, so you'll have roughly ¾ cup left over.
- No wine: Use another cup of chicken broth plus 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar or lemon juice.
- Storage: 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Reheat on low with a splash of broth or cream. To freeze, freeze the sauce alone and cook fresh pasta.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 760kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 1040mg | Potassium: 579mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 6782IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 267mg | Iron: 3mg
