Pasta with Sausage & Butternut Squash

After I made Roasted Butternut Squash last week, I got an email from Stacey Snacks telling me how much she loves squash. After a little email chat, she pointed me to her Autumn Pasta with Sausage and Butternut Squash. Her recipe appealed to me right away! I ended up changing it a bit, to accommodate my Two Distractions while I was cooking.

Last night, we got home a little later than I like to because I had to run an errand before picking them up. So, that put us behind on getting homework done. I don’t remember having this much homework (or any for that matter) in kindergarten or 1st grade! In the scheme of things, I think they both get off fairly light on it compared to what other teachers are giving. Both of their teachers seem to work hard at getting through as much as possible during the day in order to avoid sending home piles of homework. Thank goodness for that! Ok, now it’s time to move on from the homework rant.

Let’s talk dinner! As I mentioned earlier today, I was inspired by the recipe that Stacey suggested to me. I ended up making some changes because I thought roasting the squash would keep me a bit more freed up to do a few other things while making dinner. I also didn’t have any fresh sage, but since my Sweet Italian turkey sausage had great flavor in it already figured I could skip that ingredient this time. Since my boys LOVE sausage, I increased the amount by adding one more link when I was browning it. You can’t go wrong with more sausage when it comes to my family.

I ended up letting the sausage and the liquids cook almost all the way down, which was not my intention. As I said, I had to change the recipe a bit because I have Distractions… some nights they keep themselves occupied and on others they become Distractions. Cute ones, but still Distractions! So, when I drained the pasta, I reserved some of the pasta cooking liquid so I could add it back into the sausage and pasta mixture. I learned that trick from a Giada recipe. Just add enough to put some moisture back into the pan and you can save the dish!

I only tossed the butternut squash with my serving since My Husband and Youngest are not fans of it – yet. My Oldest was not happy that I neglected to add the honey toward the end of the baking time like the last time I served it. The sad look I got after he tasted it means there will be honey on it going forward. I liked the combination of the flavorful sausage and the butternut squash. It reheated well today for my lunch, and I think I kept it pretty healthy at that.

Below is my version of Stacey’s recipe, but be sure to go and check out how she prepared it as I do hope to add the fresh sage and try cooking the butternut squash stove top next time around. Thanks, Stacey, for inspiring me to make this dish – I loved it!

Pasta with Sausage and Butternut SquashInspired by: Stacey Snacks (see her recipe HERE)

Ingredients
1 butternut squash, cut into 1-inch pieces
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 links of sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup white wine (I used a Pinot Grigio)
1/2 pound of farfalle pasta
1/4 to 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cover a rimmed baking sheet in aluminum foil, then add the butternut squash pieces. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over all of the squash. Then, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and break it up as it cooks. Once it is browned, add the garlic through white wine. Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer while pasta cooks.

When draining the pasta, make sure to place a bowl under the strainer so that you can reserve some of the cooking water. When you add the pasta to the sausage, if it seems a bit dry add some of the pasta water to loosen it up a bit. Then, toss in the roasted squash and serve.