This Spicy Butternut Squash Pasta is made with sausage in creamy, homemade, butternut squash pasta sauce, made with no cream!
Butternut Squash Pasta
When I want to make a cream sauce, without cream I love pureeing vegetables like butternut squash to make a luscious sauce. Adding spicy sausage adds so much flavor, my husband loves it! If you want a vegetarian sauce, try this Spaghetti with Creamy Butternut Leek Sauce, which inspired this recipe. More butternut squash recipes really popular here, butternut squash mac and cheese and slow cooker butternut squash soup.
Butternut squash makes the creamiest sauce, which makes it a healthy, lighter alternative to cream sauces made with heavy cream and butter. It’s also easy to do! To make it quick, buy pre-cut or frozen butternut squash. You can double the sauce recipe and freeze it for another day!
More Pasta Recipe You May Enjoy:
- Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage
- Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Peppers and Escarole
- One Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
- Cajun Chicken Pasta on the Lighter Side
- Penne with Brussels Sprouts Ragu
Butternut Squash Pasta with Spicy Sausage
Ingredients
- 11 oz spicy chicken Italian sausage, about 4 links
- 1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 1 tbsp whipped butter
- 10 oz pasta, wheat or gluten-free
- 1/4 cup shallots, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh shaved parmesan cheese
- 4 sage leaves, sliced thin
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add butternut squash and cook until soft.
- Remove squash with a slotted spoon and place in a blender, blend until smooth.
- Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions for al dente, reserving at least 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.
- Meanwhile, in a large deep non-stick skillet, sauté sausage over medium heat until browned, breaking up with a spoon as it cooks. When cooked through, set aside on a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and melt the butter, sauté the shallots and garlic until soft and golden, about 5 - 6 minutes.
- Add pureed butternut squash, season with with salt and fresh cracked pepper and add a little of the reserved pasta water (I used about 1 cup) to thin out the sauce to your liking.
- Add baby spinach and stir in parmesan cheese and sage. Toss in cooked pasta and sausage and mix until well coated.
- Serve with additional parmesan cheese on the side if desired.
