Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
Get cozy with this creamy pumpkin pasta sauce recipe. Cooked pasta is layered in a casserole dish with a béchamel sauce, pumpkin butter ricotta cheese, and shredded Italian cheeses. It's then baked in the oven and topped with fried sage leaves, crunchy bits of pancetta, and buttered cracker crumbs creating the most delicious, comforting meal.
6
Ingredients
- 1 lb Eliconi Pasta or any short cut pasta
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/4 cup Spiced Pumpkin Butter
- 1 cup Vegetable Broth or chicken broth
- 1 cup Milk or light cream
- 2 1/4 cups Shredded Italian Cheeses Asiago, Parmesan, & Fontina cheese
- 1 cup Whole Milk Ricotta cheese
- Salt & Pepper to taste
For the Pasta Topping
- Handful of Sage Leaves
- 1 cup Diced Pancetta
- 1 cup Saltine Crackers crushed
- 1/4 cup Butter melted
- 1-2 cups Shredded Italian Cheeses
Instructions
- Begin by cooking your short cut pasta in salted water in a pasta pot according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- While the pasta cooks, add olive oil to a large skillet and cook the diced pancetta. Once the pancetta is crispy and brown, remove from pan with a slotted spoon (keep as much of the fat renderings in the pan as possible) and place on a plate lined with paper towels.
- In the olive oil/pancetta renderings, add a handful of sage leaves and fry until crispy (this only takes a minute or so). Once crispy, place the sage leaves on the paper towel lined plate along with the pancetta.
- On medium-low heat add flour to the oil and stir to combine. Cook roux (flour & oil mixture) for about 1 minute.
- Slowly pour vegetable broth and milk into the roux, whisking as you pour to prevent lumps of flour. Cook on medium heat, whisking occasionally, until sauce bubbles and begins to thicken to create the béchamel sauce. Remove béchamel sauce from heat once thickened.
- In a mixing bowl, combine spiced pumpkin butter, ricotta cheese, Italian cheeses, salt, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
- Spread a 1/3 of the béchamel sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
- Place 1/3 of the cooked pasta in an even layer on top of the béchamel. Then evenly spread 1/3 of the pumpkin ricotta mixture on the pasta, with 1/3 of the shredded Italian cheeses on top of that.
- Continue layering the béchamel sauce, pasta, pumpkin ricotta, and cheeses in 1/3's. Finish the top of the pumpkin pasta casserole with shredded cheese.
- Bake creamy pumpkin pasta in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and top & corners are browned.
- Allow casserole to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Garnish top of pumpkin pasta casserole with a few fried sage leaves.
- Serve creamy pumpkin pasta in a bowl then top with a dollop of pumpkin butter, pancetta crumbles, crushed crackers, shredded Italian cheese, and fried sage leaves for garnish.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Cook the pasta only to al dente. The pasta will continue cooking in the oven.
- Farfalle, ziti, rigatoni, cavatappi, or penne pasta are other great options that can be used to make this dish.
- Take a little help from the store and buy already diced pancetta.
- Frying the pancetta and the sage leaves first, will add depth of flavor to the béchamel sauce.
- Canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie filling, or fresh pumpkin puree could be used in place of pumpkin butter, you'll just need to adjust the seasoning.
- Taste the spiced pumpkin butter before adding to the ricotta cheese. The pumpkin butter I used was not overly sweet. If your pumpkin butter is super sweet you may want to use less in this recipe.
- Add chopped cooked chicken breast or turkey breast to this dish for added protein.
- Pumpkin seeds or chopped walnuts would be a great crunchy topping too!
Nutrition
Calories: 381kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
