Pasta with Butternut Sauce, Spicy Sausage and Baby Spinach
Pasta in a a decadent creamy sauce made from butternut squash, no need for cream! The spicy chicken sausage and sage is the perfect compliment, this pasta dish is filling and comforting on a chilly night.
Since making Spaghetti with Creamy Butternut Leek Sauce a few weeks back, I am officially hooked on this sauce. And with the addition of parmesan and hot sausage, the end result is savory and delicious.
Pasta with Butternut Sauce, Spicy Sausage and Baby Spinach
Pasta in a a decadent creamy sauce made from butternut squash, no need for cream! The spicy chicken sausage and sage is the perfect compliment, this pasta dish is filling and comforting on a chilly night.
Ingredients:
- 11 oz (4 links) spicy chicken Italian sausage
- 1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 1 tbsp whipped butter
- 10 oz pasta, wheat or gluten-free
- 1/4 cup shallots, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh shaved parmesan cheese
- 4 sage leaves, sliced thin
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add butternut squash and cook until soft.
- Remove squash with a slotted spoon and place in a blender, blend until smooth.
- Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions for al dente, reserving at least 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.
- Meanwhile, in a large deep non-stick skillet, sauté sausage over medium heat until browned, breaking up with a spoon as it cooks. When cooked through, set aside on a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and melt the butter, sauté the shallots and garlic until soft and golden, about 5 – 6 minutes.
- Add pureed butternut squash, season with with salt and fresh cracked pepper and add a little of the reserved pasta water (I used about 1 cup) to thin out the sauce to your liking.
- Add baby spinach and stir in parmesan cheese and sage. Toss in cooked pasta and sausage and mix until well coated.
- Serve with additional parmesan cheese on the side if desired.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 5 servings, Serving Size: 1 1/4 cups
- Amount Per Serving:
- Freestyle Points: 9
- Points +: 9
- Calories: 362 calories
- Total Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: g
- Cholesterol: mg
- Sodium: 419mg
- Carbohydrates: 55g
- Fiber: 5g
- Sugar: 1g
- Protein: 20g
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Does this pasta dish reheat well? I am trying to make things that my husband can take for lunches as well as for dinner and want things that will be just as good the next day. Thanks!
I think it reheats great, I make it all the time for lunches!
Yes it does! Made it on Friday night for dinner and had the leftovers on Saturday and it was great
This looks great as do all your recipes! However, I am scared of butternut squash! I’ve only worked with it one other time but it was challenging to say the least. Any tips?
Take a look at this https://www.skinnytaste.com/easy-tip-for-cutting-and-peeling-winter/
I can usually find it already prepped…peeled and cubed at my grocery. Super convenient!
To keep things easy, I buy frozen pureed butternut squash. Heat it up in the microwave as directed and then add to whatever recipe. It worked perfectly for this dish!! And it means I don’t have to take out my blender or food processor. Made this recipe last night and have already added to my favorites!!
Very helpful advice. Thanks!
Where can you get the spicy chicken Italian sausage? I live in Minnesota and just recently couldn’t find chicken chorizo anywhere.
I couldn’t find it either so I just sub spicy Italian turkey sausage and that works great. I find it right alongside the packaged ground turkey at the store.
Could I use canned pumpkin instead of blended butternut squash?
I haven’t tried, let me know if you do!
Any suggestions on how to make this without dairy?
Nutritional yeast instead of the Parmesan?
Could I use frozen butternut squash puree to make this instead?
Yes! I used it when I made this last night and dish was delicious!
If you don’t care for chicken sausage, could you substitute with either turkey or pork sausage instead?
Sure.
So delicious!!! I had to add water in order to get the squash to blend, but it turned out excellent! Thanks Gina for another keeper!
What brand of spicy chicken sausage do you get?
I like Premio or Al Fresco.
What kind of pasta do you use in that picture? Looks delish!
casarecce pasta
We eat lean and my husband does not like spicy So I replaced the sausage with chicken and added lactose free milk to thin down the sauce. Delicious. Thanks for idea.
Hi Gina, I discovered your blog quite awhile ago because my husband and I were both on WW. I have made a lot of your recipes, but today is the first day I’ve commented on any of them. I made this a couple days ago and to my surprise, I really liked it. I only say it like that because I don’t like squash! Or so I thought. I picked this recipe because I knew that my husband would like it, but we both enjoyed it. I cooked some extra butternut squash that I didn’t purée and tossed that in with the pasta. I couldn’t find the sausage so I used ground chicken and spiced it up.
Now I’m off to prep for eggplant rollatini…and I don’t like eggplant either! 😉
Another gem of a recipe. Thank you Gina for all your outstanding recipes!!! No-one make healthy eating taste better 🙂
My pleasure!
Can I use baby kale instead of spinach?
Sure.
Making this tonight for dinner – you remove the sausage from the casings, right?
yes
Could any part of this be made ahead? Looks delish!!!!
Can I sub the cheese for a soy alternative ?
I just bought an instant pot! Have you tried making the sauce with the instant pot or do you have any pointers for an instant pot newbe?
Lisa, I don’t think this whole meal can be made in the Instant Pot, given the way it’s prepared. However, I did the squash in my instant pot, then pureed it after cooking. I pre-cooked and pureed it so that it would be a quicker dish later in the week. You could also do the pasta in your instant pot if you prefer, but the dish as a whole really would work best stove top in my opinion. I hope you try it, it’s delish!
I loved this recipe, I will be making it regularly. I have had to cut all diary out of my diet due to a milk allergy, eating this made me feel like I was eating an gourmet mac and cheese! I loved the velvety texture that the butternut squash gave.
Thank you!!!
You’re welcome Darcy!
OK – made this yesterday – was really excited about it because it “healthifies” pasta. But, it was so pasty…I added a little more than a cup of water to make the squash a little more liquid-y, but it still didn’t work – the pasta was slightly al-dente, but it still soaked up any liquid which made the squash like glue. I wasn’t happy with this and probably wouldn’t make it again. It was tasty – the flavors combined really well – it was just to dry and pasty. Sorry – maybe next time 🙁
I wanted to substitute the squash, with the organic canned version. Do you think 1, 15 oz can, would be the same as 1 lb? Thanks!
My easy way to cook butternut squash is to cook whole in the slow cooker, here’s how…Place whole squash in slow cooker and cook until soft and easily pierced, about 4 – 5 hours on high or 6 – 8 hours on low.
When cool enough to handle, cut in half and scoop out seeds. So easy no more cutting hard squash.
I have made so many recipes from your site Gina and have not once been disappointed. I was a bit skeptical before putting it all together but it was delicious! My husband loved it too, much to my surprise. I made the sauce as the recipe says but doubled it hoping that it was as tasty as the reviews say (I thin you can tell that it was) but served it over Zoodles instead of pasta to make it more diabetic friendly. Awesome. This is a keeper for sure. I love your site Gina, especially the key.
Thanks Jess!
Do you mean 10 oz in weight or 10 oz in volume for the pasta. I hate that we use ounces for both. I’m guessing weight since it’s a dry good.
weight
This was a perfect winter pasta dish. It satisfied the need for comfort food without the guilt. The flavors blended well together and the recipe was easy to follow. I had some pureed butternut squash in the freezer, so I was able to make this a bit faster. Great recipe and thank you for sharing it!
This was outstanding. I’ve never been a fan of butternut squash so I was worried about the sauce tasting like squash but it just picked up the flavour of everything else. It was such a creamy sauce and reheated really well. This is now on permanent rotation in hour house. Hubby said that this meal was ‘restaurant quality’. Thanks Gina!
awesome!