When the sales were on before Thanksgiving, I had picked up a few cans of Pumpkin. Admittedly, I did not but it to make pumpkin pie. I bought it because I had seen Rachel Ray make this pasta recipe once that had sausage and pumpkin. It sounded interesting to me and I’ve had it on my list to make since before the holidays started. Last week I finally had most of the ingredients on hand and the time to cook, so I gave it a shot. I made a few changes to the original recipe to suit what I had on hand and also to change those ingredients I did not wish to use. I have included a link to the original recipe so that you can refer to that if needed. As a side note, this cooking experiment also began with a brilliant plan to take pictures of the dish as I was cooking it and then as the finished product. In true YTM fashion, I managed to burn my pinky fairly early on this process and honestly forgot all about taking pictures! I have included a picture from the Food Network site to give you a sense of what the finished dish might look like. My husband LOVED the dish. I liked it but I like the taste but would have preferred more sauce. If I make it again, I would adjust the recipe further to have more sauce.
Pasta With Pumpkin and Sausage Courtesy of Food Network
RECIPE: Pasta with Pumpkin & Sausage (as made by Yankee Texan Mom)
Original Recipes Courtesy of Rachel Ray via the Food Network
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped1 medium onion, finely chopped1 bay leaf, fresh or dried4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, cut into chiffonade, about 2 tablespoons**2 cups chicken stock, canned or paper container1 cup canned pumpkin1/2 cup (3 turns around the pan) milk1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly gratedCoarse salt and black pepper1 pound pasta of your choisee, cooked to al denteRomano or Parmigiano, for grating**I used dried sage as that was what I had on hand.
Directions
Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate.
Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.
Add bay leaf, sage, and 1 Cup Chicken Stock to the pan. Reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add remaining stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in milk. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.
Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with laots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.
Enjoy! Please let me know if you try this and what you thought.
