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This spicy sausage pumpkin pasta sauce is packed full of delicious pumpkin and is perfect served over pasta, ravioli, or gnocchi. Super simple to make and packed full of fall flavor.
You know how October hits and everyone goes crazy over pumpkin?
Well, I’m sadly one of those people.
I feel like October and November are really the prime months of pumpkin consumption and I make sure to use my time wisely.
While I’m a sucker for a good pumpkin dessert I really love using pumpkin in a nice savory way.
I used it last year to make a super delicious chicken bacon pumpkin gnocchi but this year I’m using it to make your new favorite pasta sauce.
This dish is creamy, packed full of spicy sausage, and then jazzed up with some baby spinach and shredded Parmesan cheese.
Now while you can use it to simply pour over pasta (seen above) it’s also a fantastic option for covering ravioli, gnocchi OR baked in a delicious pasta dish.
I should also point out that this dish makes fabulous leftovers.
I actually ate it for breakfast the next morning over some leftover pasta.
I love eating dinner leftovers for breakfast so I’m always pumped to have a tasty dish just waiting in my fridge.
Oh and the really awesome thing about this dish? It’s ready in 30 minutes.
30 minutes people! You get all that homemade slow cooked sauce flavor without all the waiting.
I mean I don’t really know how many Italian grandmothers are making slow cooked Sunday sauce with pumpkin but it could happen.
Looking for more awesome savory pumpkin recipes? Try my spicy Thai pumpkin soup, pumpkin cornbread chicken sausage stuffing or my slow cooker pumpkin chili.
Spicy Sausage Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound spicy Italian sausage, removed from casing
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 6 ounces baby spinach
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a large skillet set over medium heat add sausage and onions.
- Using your spatula break up the sausage while it brows into bite size pieces. Cook until the sausage is not longer pink. Add in the minced garlic and saute just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add in pumpkin puree and chicken stock. Stir to combine, lower the heat to medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Stir in Parmesan cheese and heavy cream till combined.
- Lower your heat to low and add in baby spinach. Cover the pan and give it 5 minutes to slightly wilt. Stir into the sauce and let the heat of the sauce wilt the spinach further. Season with red pepper flakes.
- Top with addition shredded Parmesan if desired.
- If the sauce is too thick you thing it out with addition heavy cream, half and half or whole milk.
- Serve over pasta, ravioli or gnocchi.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Now this is my kind of pasta sauce! Hello my new favorite fall dinner!
The color makes it look a lot like curry sauce (maybe a butter chicken sauce. Looks delicious!
This looks great. I love ideas for non-red sauces. And cavatappi is one of my favorite shapes. Good call!
Awkward, but this sauce ain’t asking for pasta under it. It’s asking for a spoon to dig into it!
Mmmm – looks so tempting and healthy. I bet it would be great over spaghetti squash too!
I agree with Arman – NO pasta needed – this sauce is amazing!!
I love a good pumpkin pasta sauce! Especially now that I can’t eat tomatoes – looks like an awesome replacement!
This really is the perfect Fall comfort food. I love the addition of sausage with the pumpkin sauce.
This sounds amazing! I may just try it with coconut milk in place of the cream. I’m sure it will be fantastic!
I ADORE savory pumpkin recipes. I can get a little bored of the endless versions of pumpkin bread (which I am guilty of too), but I am all over dishes like this! Looks awesome!