Butternut squash sauce over pasta, with sausage, spinach and pine nuts!

This recipe is a little more time consuming than my usual posts, but it’s well worth it!

This is my first time even trying butternut squash in a sauce, but it’s a definite winner. This is the perfect meal to cook up on a chilly Sunday, when football is on and you have a yummy glass of wine poured.

A glass of wine makes everything sound better, doesn’t it? 😊

*You will need a deep pot (I use my Le Cruset) and a Emersion blender or regular blender* and a small cookie sheet

3 garlic cloves
1/2 of a lg onion
1 tbsp butter/ghee
2 tbsp evoo
1 cup veggie broth
1/2 cup cream
2 cups fresh spinach
4 mild Italian sausages (I used chicken)
3 tbsp grated Parmesan
3 fresh sage leaves
2 cups of diced butternut squash
1 box of rigatoni or penne pasta

Preheat oven to 400, place sausages on cookie sheet and cook for about 20/25 mins or until done.
Start off by giving the onion, sage and garlic a rough chop.
Drizzle the evoo into your pot and add the tbsp of butter, keeping the heat to a medium/low.
Toss in the onions and garlic, stirring until they begin to soften, then add in your chopped sage. Season with cracked pepper and salt. Remember you can add more later on.
Add in the 2 cups of butternut squash, giving everything a good stir. **A little tip is to buy the squash already diced. You can find it at Trader Joe’s or your local grocery store. It will make this recipe ALOT easier.
You will give the BS, onion mixture a stir occasionally, and let this cook prob for about 20/25 mins or until the squash has softened.
Begin to boil your water for the pasta
Once your squash is nice and soft, add in the veggie broth and heavy cream. (You can use whole milk if you don’t have cream)
Add pasta to boiling water
with your Emersion blender, blend everything until just about all the chunks are gone. If it seems to be to thick, you can add in a little more broth. Now give it a taste and see if it’s salty enough for you. Add more if you’d like.
Turn your heat off and now add the spinach, stirring to combine it in until it has wilted.
Toss in your parmesan cheese. Stir
Once the sausage is done, cut it into slices.
Drain your pasta, and add it to the sauce, giving it a good stir to coat the pasta.
Now your ready to plate! I prefer to serve it up in a bowl, putting the pasta in first, then sausage, pine nuts and a little sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.