Pumpkin and Sausage Baked Pasta

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween yesterday.  After the sugar coma I think everyone is in today, I am making you a healthy pasta dish.  It has pumpkin, which when made without all the sugar of a baked good, is really healthy for you.  I found this pasta recipe over at I was Born to Cook.  I have never had pumpkin with pasta before.  I have seen it before, but never been brave enough to try it  (I am a picky eater).  With my husband (non pumpkin lover) in Colorado and me here with my pumpkin loving 6 year old, I thought it was the perfect time to try it.  It was so good!  I will be making this again for my husband.  It doesn’t taste like pumpkin at all to me.  It just tastes like this rich and creamy pasta dish.  I really think that with all the sausage and sage in there, if I didn’t tell him it had pumpkin, he would never know.  My 6 year old ate it, but didn’t love it.  Now to be fair, he isn’t really a fan of noodles.  He did eat everything I gave him (I may have bribed him with these for dessert).  

Here are a few pictures from our Halloween.  My 6 year old was Perry the Platypus from Phineus and Ferb.  He was quite the hit with the teenagers who were answering the doors.

Pumpkin and Sausage Baked Pasta
Slightly adapted from I was Born to Cook

1 lb Italian Turkey sausage
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

1 1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon dried sage
Salt
1/3 cup heavy cream (half and half or 2 % milk will work too)

1 box penne pasta, cooked
½ cup Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

In a large pan brown sausage, until cooked through.  Remove from pan and drain over paper towel.  Set aside.

Using any oil (up to 2 Tbls) from the sausage, sauté onion, garlic and crushed red pepper until soft.  Stir in pumpkin, chicken stock and sage.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt.

Stir in heavy cream and sausage.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce comes together and thickens slightly.  Remove from heat, and add pasta.  Toss everything together. 

Place mixture in a casserole dish sprayed with non stick spray.  Top with Parmesan Cheese.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until top is golden brown.