pumpkin pasta bake

This cheesy Sage Pumpkin Pasta Bake is the ultimate grown-up, autumn casserole recipe. It's dotted with kale, topped with butter pecans, and smothered in an easy to make and healthy creamy pumpkin sauce.
<p style="text-align: center"><em>| gluten-free + vegetarian |</em></p>

Sage Pumpkin Pasta Bake with Kale and Butter Pecans

fusilli (gluten-free, if needed)

salted butter

pecans,

olive oil

red onion, thinly sliced

garlic, minced

kale

pumpkin

cottage cheese

sage

sea salt

each: black pepper and cayenne

mozzarella, grated

Cook the fusilli in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and toss with a little olive oil.

While the pasta is cooking prepare the rest of the meal. Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium-high heat and add the pecans. Toast until they are fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook till soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and kale and cook until the kale is wilted, about 2 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the pumpkin, cottage cheese, sage, black pepper, and cayenne.

Spread a scoop of the pumpkin into the bottom of a casserole dish or ovenproof pot. Layer with 1/3 of the pasta, 1/3 of the pumpkin, 1/3 of the kale, and 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat 2 more times. Top the pasta with the buttered pecans and bake uncovered for 25 minutes, or until the pasta is hot and bubbling.

Tried this last night and I used half the pasta suggested and there was hardly enough of the pumpkin cheese mixture to spread. Also the cottage cheese didn’t melt so just random white cures everywhere. Very dry recipe with just half the pasta called for.  Pretty sad cause it’s not really tasty if the pasta isn’t in a creamy sauce like anticipated. Threw it out.

Delicious!! My husband and I couldn't stop eating it! I loved the contrast of the pecans to the creamy sauce and I thought the use of red onion was really unique. We are adding this to the fall dinner rotation!

We love this! I thought the pecans would be strange but everyone agreed that they made the recipe. Will make it again!

Ahhhh mazing. So so good. For my hubby I thew in some sausage instead of the pecans. Instant favorite for all of us including our one year old baby girl; who said, and I quote, " mmmmmmm" and cleaned her plate. 

Definitely a keeper! We loved it. I did change it up a bit:

Subbed smoked paprika for cayenne, since we're not huge fans of spicy hot. 
Put the cottage cheese and pumpkin in the blender to make it nice and smooth. 
And then I reserved a bit of mozzarella and the nuts, threw everything in the pasta pot, mixed it up, topped it with the cheese and nuts and popped it in the oven.

I didn't see much point in layering the ingredients. It's not lasagna, and I really did want the sauce and all the goodies well-integrated with the pasta. Also, I was running out of time and it seemed simpler to just mix it all up.

I made this tonight and was disappointed. The whole thing turned out super dry - I think it would help if the sauce was thinned down with almond milk or another liquid in the blender. I even made more sauce than was specified due to previous reviews but it still wasn’t enough. Bummed to have a whole heap of pasta that’s not very tasty :( 

Saucy, healthy baked pumpkin pasta made with creamy pumpkin puree, ground turkey sausage, veggies and layers of cheese. This easy, cheesy pumpkin pasta bake is a wonderful fall twist on traditional baked ziti! Use your favorite pasta for this comforting, lightened up pasta dish.

Saucy Baked Pumpkin Pasta

For the sauce:

garlic,

white onion, diced

red bell pepper, diced

baby bella mushrooms

94% lean ground turkey*

italian seasoning

paprika

red pepper flakes

nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

pepper

pumpkin puree

For the cheese mixture:

ricotta

mozzarella,

parmesan cheese

To garnish:

Fresh chopped parsley or sage

Add olive oil to a large pot and place over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onions, red bell pepper and mushrooms and saute until onions begin to soften and mushrooms cook down, about 4-5 minutes.&nbsp;

Next add in ground turkey, breaking up the meat, and cook until turkey is no longer pink. Add in the seasonings: italian seasoning, paprika, red pepper flakes, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Stir for about 30 seconds. to incorporate seasonings into the meat, then immediately add in the pasta sauce and pumpkin puree. Stir together, and reduce heat to low and simmer while you cook your pasta.

Add water to a large pot of water and add a pinch of salt. Once boiling, add your pasta and cook until pasta is just barely al-dente. We want the pasta to have a nice bite to it. Once pasta is cooked, drain, then rinse with cool water.

While the pasta cooks: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 inch pan (or 9x9 inch) with olive oil. Set aside.

Next make your cheese mixture: In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, ½ of the mozzarella pieces and parmesan cheese until just combined. Stir in the cooked pasta and 2 cups of the meat sauce. Add a little salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

Add half of the pasta mixture to the prepared pan. Top with half of remaining meat sauce and then half of remaining mozzarella pieces. Repeat with remaining pasta, meat sauce and mozzarella.

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Top 2 pumpkin pasta bake recipes from across the web

The most viewed pumpkin pasta bake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Sage Pumpkin Pasta Bake with Kale a...

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The most viewed pumpkin pasta bake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine