Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce with Sausage

A plate with butternut squash pasta with sausages, a cloth napkin and utensils.

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce with Sausage

This delicious butternut squash pasta sauce has sausage, parmesan cheese, ginger, and honey. It’s an easy dish highlighting the fall flavors we love.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, International

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 45

Servings

Calories 840kcal

Author by Jenny | The Greek Foodie

Ingredients

2 lb butternut squash cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 garlic head
10 fresh thyme sprigs or one tablespoon of dried thyme
10 fresh sage leaves or one tablespoon of dried sage
10 rosemary sprigs or one tablespoon of dried rosemary
⅓ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground ginger
8 oz Greek sausage Cut into ⅓ inch pieces
¼ cup parmesan cheese shaved or grated
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
8 oz rigatoni pasta or your favorite pasta
freshly ground pepper
sea salt

For serving

parmesan cheese shaved or grated
chili flakes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cut the top part of a garlic head. Place it in the middle of an aluminum foil piece—season garlic with sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. Add a couple of thyme, rosemary and sage sprigs. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil on top. Fold the aluminum foil snuggly and secure it around the garlic head.
Mix the butternut squash cubes with two tablespoons of olive oil, one teaspoon of ground nutmeg, sea salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.
Arrange the rest of thyme sprigs, rosemary and sage on a rimmed baking sheet. Save some sage leaves for later.
Arrange the squash in one layer on top of the fresh herbs. Place the wrapped garlic head on the baking sheet to roast with the squash.
Roast for 45 minutes until the squash is tender.
Wait for the garlic head to cool down.
Squeeze the soft garlic flesh out of the garlic skins.
Transfer the squash and garlic flesh to a food processor.
Puree until smooth. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
About 15 minutes before the squash is ready, prepare the pasta.
Boil the pasta until al dente. Towards the end of cooking, scoop out one cup of pasta water and set aside.
Heat two tablespoons olive oil in a medium sauté pan. Add 2-3 sage leaves and a couple of thyme sprigs. After half a minute, add the sausage pieces—season with freshly ground pepper.
Cook until sausage is fully cooked with crispy edges, about 5 minutes.
Remove any hard herb sprigs.
In the same skillet, mix the butternut pasta sauce with the sausage.
Add the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, one teaspoon of ground ginger, and one tablespoon of honey.
Your pasta should be al dente by now.
Carefully bring the pasta pot close to the skillet, and with the help of a slotted spoon or tongs, grab and transfer the pasta to the sauce. It is perfectly alright for some water to transfer as well.
In medium-low heat, mix gently the pasta with the sauce. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
If you need to thin the sauce use the reserved pasta water until it reaches your desired consistency.
Serve the pasta warm in bowls topped with generous amounts of shaved (or grated) parmesan cheese, and chili flakes.

Notes

This dish is best served warm. It allows the cheese to melt and blend with the butternut and sausage flavors well.

For thinning out the sauce, you can also use half and half or broth. It will result in a creamy, richer consistency. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Usually, when I add parmesan cheese to a sauce, it is grated to incorporate better in the sauce. In this recipe, it is ok to be more flexible and add shaved or grated parmesan. The shaved parmesan will partially melt and adhere to pasta pieces, resulting in a burst of flavor.

If you like to use goat cheese for serving, place it in the freezer for 15 minutes before serving. It will make it easy to grate it over the pasta.

Nutritional Info – Please keep in mind that nutritional information provided is only an estimate and can vary based on the products used.

Nutrition