Teatopia

Pumpkin, Sausage, and Sage Pasta

Initially, I planned to save this good find until the fall. I'm all about mood food, aka, pairing food with certain moods and/or circumstances. I have my comfort dishes, my "I'm in the mood to cook" dishes, my quickie dishes, and my favorite, the themed dishes. I pair Asian cooking with great foreign films, like Chana Masala with Monsoon Wedding for example. Anyway, this is a terrific fall dish, perfect for cold fall nights after I've been teaching all day. There's nothing like school to remind you of fall.

Anyway, this pasta dish by Rachael Ray is a new favorite of ours. And I've decided that this dish is perfect for any time.

Click below for the recipe.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, cut into chiffonade, about 2 tablespoons
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock, canned or paper container
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup (3 turns around the pan) heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated (I used fresh)
Coarse salt and black pepper
1 pound penne rigate, cooked to al dente
Romano or Parmigiano, for grating ( I chose Romano)

Directions
Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1
tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel
lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil,
and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.
Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin
and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat,
and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste.
Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.
Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the
sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute.
Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

Posted by Hannah at July 29, 2004 07:59 PM