Baked Pumpkin & Sausage Macaroni
This baked pasta casserole has the great fall time flavors of pumpkin mixed with creamy spinach and cheese to make a wonderful dinner.
- 1 12 ounce box whole wheat pasta noodles
- 1 15 ounce can 100% pure pumpkin
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- 1 lb ground sausage, cooked
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spray a large 11 x 17 casserole or glass dish with cooking spray.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup of pasta cooking liquid before straining pasta.
- Meanwhile, combine pumpkin, flour, garlic powder, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper in a medium skillet over medium heat. When pumpkin mixture is hot, add the evaporated milk slowly combining it with the pumpkin mixture. Cook and stir for 2 minutes until slightly thickened. Add sausage and reserved pasta cooking liquid and combine. Remove from heat.
- Transfer the sauce to the pot with the pasta and completely combine.
- Place half of the pasta mixture into the cooking dish and evenly spread. Top the pasta mixture with all of the spinach. Now, cover the spinach with rest of the pasta mixture.
- Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and top with the 2 cheeses. Cook for 5 more minutes. Serve.
This is a very simple baked pasta recipe with a twist on the style of sause. We cooked the pasta and browned the sausage ahead of time to make this recipe faster for when we got home from work. Make sure to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water before straining the coked pasta.
Transfer the cooked noodles and cooked sausage to a large mixing bowl.
In a large skillet over medium heat add the pumkin, flour, garlic powder, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add the reserved pasta cooking water and mix well.
This makes a wonderful creamy sauce.
Transfer to the mixing bowl with the noodles and sausage.
Mix up everything until well blended.
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spray a 11 x 17 casserole style baking dish.
Transfer 1/2 of the pasta mixture to the casserole dish and spread evenly.
Evenly spread all of the spinach on top of the first layer of pasta.
Top the spinach with another layer of pasta and spread evenly.
Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.
Remove from oven and top with both cheeses. Be careful of the hot pan. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes longer.
Nice and creamy and cheesy.
Cooked By: Tom Corliss
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About Tom Corliss
Tom Corliss is a web publisher, internet marketer, and website developer, with 3 current websites, Home Information Guru.com, Home Selling Resources.com, and Simple-Food-Solutions.com. He also runs a home improvement company Corliss Property Enhancements. He has recently completed a new e-Book for anyone wanting to sell their home fast: Home Sellers Handbook
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