It’s October! This is the perfect dinner to kick off fall. Spicy Italian sausage, creamy pumpkin, and warm curry flavor all wrapped around a hardy pasta. This was a hit among friends last night, so if you like the warm spice of curry, you have to give this pasta a try!
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Servings 4-6
Here’s what you need:
- 1 lb Pasta (I used Rigatoni)
- Plus 1 cup pasta water
- 1 lb Hot Italian Sausage
- 1 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree (NOT Pumpkin Pie Filling!)
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 container of baby spinach or power greens (142 grams)
- 3 cloves garlic minced/crushed
- 3/4 cup white wine (If you don’t want to use wine, substitute all chicken stock, just ease up on the salt if you do this)
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 2-3 heaping TBSP curry powder (this is where you get the spice!)
- 1/8-1/4 TSP nutmeg (per your taste)
- 1-1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese + some for garnish
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese for a gooey cheese garnish (this is absolutely optional. I didn’t use it in my final plate!)
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil (a good drizzle)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
This sauce comes together really quickly so you will want to have everything measured and ready to go when you get started. A great thing when you need a quick meal!
Start by getting a large pot of water boiling. When you are bringing your water to a boil, brown your sausage in a large walled skillet. You’ll be finishing the pasta in this skillet so you want to make sure it’s big enough to hold the all the pasta. When your sausage is browned, remove it from the skillet and drain on a paper towel lined plate and set it aside.
When your water is at a rolling boil, generously salt the water and toss in your pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente per the packages instructions. As your pasta is cooking, it’s time to make the delicious sauce. (DO NOT DRAIN THE PASTA! You need about a cup of pasta water for the sauce!)
In the same skillet you used to brown your sausage, put in a drizzle of olive oil and add in your diced onions. Cook until they start turning translucent.
When your onions have begun to sweat and turn translucent, add in your curry power and allow it too cook for about a minute to let the spice bloom. Now it’s time to add in your garlic, chicken stock, white wine, and pumpkin puree. Stir these over medium heat until they combine and begin to heat up.
When your pumpkin sauce has started to warm, toss in all of your greens and let those cook down and wilt. As the greens are cooking, grate in your nutmeg.
Your sauce will likely seem very thick at this point. This is why we saved the pasta water! Add your browned sausage into the sauce and now it’s time to add that pasta. Pull the pasta straight from the pot of pasta water over into your sauce allowing the excess water to carry over with it. Toss the pasta in the sauce until the pasta is coated. If the sauce is still thick (mine was) continue adding a little pasta water at a time and stirring until the sauce loosens. When the sauce has nicely coated the pasta and is the consistency you desire, add in your grated parmesan. Give your pasta one final good stir until it’s all mixed in to the sauce. Make sure to sample your sauce at this point and add in the Salt and Pepper to taste. Garnish with Mozzarella or Parmesan Cheese!
Cook. Clink. Chaos. 