Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Recipe

Name: Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta - Hangry In Love
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 10 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Fusion
Ingredients: 1 Tbsp olive oil; 8 cloves garlic, divided; 1/2 onion, minced; (2) 11 oz packs Al fresco apple chicken sausage; 2 small butternut squash (6 cups divided); 4 sage leaves; 1 1/2 cup heavy cream; 1/2 cup chicken stock; 1 cup grated Parmesan; 1/8 tsp nutmeg; 2 cups baby spinach; Pappardelle pasta, cooked; 1/4 cup reserved pasta water

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This Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta doesn’t shut up about sweater weather. It’s got a simmer pot on every burner. It listens to ASMR compilations of leaves crackling underfoot. It still remembers what the air smelled like when it was kid walking the track under Friday night lights. And it cries every time it reads Keats’ poem “To Autumn”. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store—buying up every pumpkin-shaped thing in TJ Maxx?

PREP TIME

20 mins

COOK TIME

1 hr 10 mins

SERVINGS

6-8

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
8 cloves garlic, divided
1/2 onion, minced
(2) 11 oz packs Al fresco apple chicken sausage
2 small butternut squash (6 cups divided)
5 Tbsp butter, divided
4 sage leaves
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock

1 cup grated Parmesan
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 cups baby spinach
Pappardelle pasta, cooked
1/4 cup reserved pasta water

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta in a pan with wooden spoon

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta

Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Cut 1 squash in half lengthwise. Brush with oil, then salt and pepper and place a clove of garlic, still in its skin, in the cavity at the base of both squash halves.
On a foil-lined sheet, roast squash or 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Once tender and caramelized, remove from oven and allow to cool.
In a medium bowl, add roasted flesh from squash, roasted garlic (skin removed), and chicken broth. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth and sauce-like.
With the other squash, peel and cube it into 1/2” cubes. Set aside.
Cut chicken sausage in slices on the bias. In a large pan over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp oil and sausage slices. Cook until browned on both sides. Set aside.
Melt 2 Tbsp butter to same large pan. Add sage and crisp lightly. Add butternut squash cubes. Cook for 5 minutes without stirring then toss squash so it browns on more than one side. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the squash becomes tender and slightly browned. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan and set aside.
Melt other 2 Tbsp butter in same pan. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Add 6 cloves minced garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add 1 Tbsp butter then heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Stir in Parmesan cheese and nutmeg then cook until sauce begins to thicken. Stir in butternut squash purée and until well-combined.
Add pappardelle, sausage, spinach and butternut squash cubes to the sauce then toss to coat. Stir in 1/4 cup reserved pasta water to the sauce and remove from heat once spinach is wilted to desired consistency .
Garnish plates with fresh grated Parmesan and roasted pepitas. Enjoy!