Hello, you beautiful pasta dish you. Hands up if all you want on a Friday is an easy, one pot pasta dish? Me. Yep, forever. I am in love with taking flavors that are usually put in the “sweet” category & turning them upside down into something insanely savory & DELICIOUS.
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I made this dish while Aaron was still in Mongolia so I ended up having a lot of leftovers. I ate this for dinner 4 days in a row & wasn’t mad about it at all. It was just so good that I had zero hard feelings over it.
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The pasta is perfectly tender, still with a bite. The sausage is a little spicy. And of course, the cheese. Maybe the best part? OR maybe the pesto drizzle is the best part? Maybe it’s all the best part?
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Hmm. Guess you’ll just have to make it to find out!
xx
ellyn
SERVINGS: 6-8
TIME: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 oz pasta – I used orecchiette! It’s the perfect shape to grab all the goodies like the sausage & sauce!
- ½ cup reserved pasta water
- 1 lb italian sausage – mild or hot
- 1 medium shallot
- 2 large garlic cloves
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 cup pumpkin puree – make sure it’s only pumpkin & not pumpkin pie mix!
- 1.5 cups half & half
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- ¼ cup shredded romano
- ¼ cup pesto
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Add pasta to salted, boiling water. Cook extra al dente – about 3-4 minutes less than what the package says. Reserve about a ½ cup of the pasta water.
- In a large, oven-safe skillet, cook sausage through. After it’s cooked add in sliced shallot & garlic to medium heat. If there is a lot of excess grease, drain it off.
- Add white wine & let reduce for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in pumpkin, half & half, salt, pepper & garlic powder. Simmer & reduce for 5 minutes or until beginning to thicken. If the sauce becomes too thick, add in pasta water a couple tablespoons at a time until desired consistency!
- Add al dente pasta & mix well.
- Top with shredded cheeses.
- Bake for 15 minutes & then broil for 3-4 to get the cheese a little brown ( ie: my love language. )
- Drizzle with pesto.
- Enjoy!