Description
This pumpkin pasta recipe has a savory pumpkin sauce that’s thick and creamy and a sweet apple sausage, and topped with crispy fried sage leaves. The ultimate comfort food for fall.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- Crispy Sage Leaves:
- 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 10 to 15 sage leaves
- sea salt
- Sausage and pumpkin sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound gluten free sweet sausage, sliced if in links (chicken or pork)*
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (NOT PUMPKIN PIE FILLING)
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth (or more as needed)
- 1 tablespoon sage leaves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- (optional): Pinch of cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- Pasta:
- 8 ounces gluten free penne or rotini (or whatever shape of pasta you prefer)**
Instructions
- Make the crispy sage leaves: Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter and add the sage leaves. Cook the sage leaves about 2 minutes on each side – use tongs to carefully flip the leaves over. Allow the butter to foam and bubble up. Once the sage leaves have turned a mute green and the edges have started to curl in on themselves carefully remove them as they are very delicate and drain them on a plate lined with paper towels (DO NOT DRAIN THE BUTTER). It’s okay if the butter browns a little, that’s what we want. Sprinkle the sage leaves with a pinch of sea salt. Set the sage leaves aside and save the butter for later,
- Brown off the sausage: You can get the sausage going while the sage leaf pan is heating up. Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat, heat the oil. Brown the sausage on both sides until it’s slightly crispy and warmed through. If using crumbled sausage break up and cook until no more pink remains. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside. If you are using a fatty pork sausage you can remove some of the grease, leaving about 2 tablespoons behind. I didn’t have to with my chicken sausage.
- Cook the Pasta: At this time begin heating up your water for your pasta. Cook 2 to 3 minutes less than what the package instructions say. You want your pasta to still have a bite to it so that it stays together when tossed with the sauce at the end. Once the pasta is cooked drain it, (rinse if instructed on the package) and set aside.
- Cook the veggies: In the same pan that the sausage was cooked in add the onion and carrots. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.
- Make the Pumpkin Sauce: Stir in the can of pumpkin, chicken broth, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper fresh chopped sage, and salt and pepper, and the reserved browned sage butter (<- so yum, seriously don't skip). Allow the sauce to come to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Allow it to simmer for 5 to 8 minutes or until the sauce has reduced slightly and thickened. If the pasta gets too thick you can add a little more chicken broth to thin it out.
- Stir in the pasta and sausage: Gently stir the pasta and sausage into the sauce. Allow it to heat the pasta and sausage back up, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Serve: Transfer the pasta to serving bowls and garnish with the crispy fried sage. Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an air tight container for up to 4 days. The crispy sage is best eaten immediately, it looses it’s crispiness when its leftover.
Notes
*I used Al Fresco Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage. It worked really well with the pumpkin. If you can’t find sweet apple chicken sausage then any sweet sausage will do. Crumbled sausage works too.
**I really like chickpea pasta by Banza. It’s gluten free, has less carbs and is higher in protein than most pasta. Feel free to use whatever kind of pasta you have on hand. I have found the best price for the Banza pasta to be at my Super Target
