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Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta With Sausage And Spinach

Creamy butternut squash pasta with sausage and spinach is a rich Italian-American dinner with a silky squash-cream sauce that clings to rigatoni. The skillet method browns sausage, simmers squash in cream, and tosses in spinach until just wilted.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Italian-American
Calories: 780
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

rigatoni or penne
  • 1 lb rigatoni or penne
Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
baby spinach
  • 4 cup baby spinach
onion, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
garlic, minced
  • 4 garlic, minced
butternut squash puree
  • 2 cup butternut squash puree
heavy cream
  • 1 cup heavy cream
pasta cooking water
  • 0.5 cup pasta cooking water
parmesan, grated
  • 1 cup parmesan, grated
Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
nutmeg
  • 0.25 tsp nutmeg
red pepper flakes
  • 0.5 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
  • 1 salt and pepper

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Cook pasta
  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then cook rigatoni or penne until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes with frequent stirring. Visually check for tender pasta with a firm center.
  2. Before draining, reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Make sure you have the water measured before the colander goes in.
Brown sausage and build the sauce
  1. Brown Italian sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crumbled and browned, 8 to 10 minutes. You should see rendered fat and fully browned bits.
  2. Drain the excess fat from the skillet, then set the sausage aside. Keep the browned sausage ready to return to the pan.
  3. Sauté onion in the same skillet over medium heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Look for translucent edges and gentle browning.
  4. Add garlic and Italian seasoning and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stop when the garlic smells strong and turns light golden.
  5. Add butternut squash puree and heavy cream, then stir to combine and evenly color the sauce. Scrape the bottom so nothing sticks.
  6. Stir in nutmeg and red pepper flakes, then simmer the sauce until slightly thickened, 5 minutes. You should see small bubbles across the surface.
  7. Reduce heat to low, add parmesan, and stir until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. The sauce should look glossy with no grainy cheese bits.
Toss and finish
  1. Toss the cooked pasta into the sauce along with reserved pasta cooking water, stirring to coat. The pasta should look evenly slicked with cream sauce.
  2. Add baby spinach and toss just until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Stop when the spinach turns bright green and no longer looks raw.
  3. Return browned sausage to the pan and stir to distribute throughout. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then serve immediately.

Notes

For a smoother sauce, keep the heat at low when stirring in the parmesan so it melts without clumping. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days; reheat gently with a splash of water to loosen. Freezing isn’t recommended because the cream can separate after thawing. For a lighter option, use half-and-half instead of heavy cream and expect a slightly thinner sauce.