Pumpkin and Sausage Pasta

November 12, 2021

This Pumpkin and Sausage Pasta is a recipe that truly showcases the wonderful flavor of our favorite fall squash. Roast a small pie pumpkin and blend it with cream and salty Parmigiano for a light, ... velvety sauce. Then toss it with your favorite penne or fusilli (we made this with bionaturae Durum Semolina Fusilli) and cooked Italian Sausage—which you can buy in links, simply remove the casing before adding the sausage to your pan. Be sure to salt to taste as indicated in the recipe to maximize the flavor potential of this dish! Buon appetito!

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• Ingredients
• 1 small pumpkin (about 500 g clean)
• 3 tablespoon bionaturae Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• ¾ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano (plus more for serving)
• 200 g Italian sausage
• 1 package bionaturae pasta of your choice (recommended fusilli or penne)
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste

1. Instructions
2. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds and guts. Place the two halves on a baking tray lined with baking paper, drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil over the pumpkin and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. One the oven is preheated, put the pumpkin in the oven to bake for 50 minutes.
3. Once the pumpkin is soft and caramelized, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool. In the meantime, in a blender put 1 tbsp of olive oil, the heavy cream, Parmigiano cheese, 1 cup of water, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Once cooled, peel the skin of the pumpkin, and place all the pulp with the rest of the ingredients in the blender. Blend on high for a minute, or until a thick creamy consistency is reached. Set mixture aside.
5. Place a pot full of salted water to boil, once at a rolling boil cook pasta according to the instructions on the box. Make sure to reserve ¾ cup of pasta water.
6. While the pasta is cooking, heat a pan to medium heat with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Remove the outer skin of the sausage and break it up into bite sized pieces. Cook it in the pan for a few minutes, or until no pink is left.
7. Lower the heat and then add the creamy pumpkin sauce directly in with the cooked sausage. Mix them together and then add the reserved pasta water to dilute the sauce slightly. Let it simmer on low while pasta finishes cooking.
8. Once the pasta has been drained, throw it in the same pan as the sauce and mix until evenly coated. Remove from the heat and serve immediately with more freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top.