Are you looking for a new recipe for butternut squash? This sausage squash pasta is easy to make and includes all of your favorite fall and Thanksgiving flavors. It’s much easier and faster to make than your traditional Thanksgiving fare.
Confession: I am terrible at following directions. I get lost the first time I go anywhere. I make up my own crochet patterns. And when I share my meal plan every Monday, I don’t really follow the recipes that I link to. I always try. But I end up substituting one or two ingredients. Or I cut back on the meat. Sometimes I take a shortcut – more often a long cut. Sometimes the whole thing just backfires. That’s how I ended up with sausage squash pasta.
When too many things go wrong, it’s easy to just scrap it all and order a pizza. I’ve done that plenty of times. This time, though, I got creative with my ingredients. I come up with the best recipes by accident, and this is a perfect example. I invented sausage squash pasta the same way that most great inventions happen. I threw things together and somehow it worked. Like I’ve said before, it’s better to be lucky than good.
Last week I had an elaborate meal on the menu: roasted chicken, sausage stuffing, butternut squash and yeast rolls. Okay, it was a bit too ambitious to begin with. Then things started to go wrong. For starters, if you look at that list, everything cooks in the oven. At different temperatures. For different times. Then the chicken was still frozen in the middle.
About 5 p.m. I gave up on my original idea and just started cooking things. I wasn’t really sure where I was going until I got there. When my family sat down at the table, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I just wanted it to not be bad. Then the kids asked for seconds. Then they asked to take the leftovers to school for lunch.
Not bad at all.
Sausage squash pasta
Ingredients
- 1 12-ounce package of pasta, any shape
- 1 pound pork breakfast sausage
- 1 large or 2 small butternut squash
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (total) of dried herbs
I used my favorite all-purpose combo, which I like to call “Simon & Garfunkel Blend”: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. - salt and pepper, to taste
- Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Instructions
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Peel, seed and dice the butternut squash into small pieces. Add the squash to the water and simmer until it is soft, about ten minutes or so.
Meanwhile, bring another pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, about 8-10 minutes.
In a skillet, brown the sausage.
If you time it just right, everything can be done at the same time. When it is, drain the pasta and squash. Remove the grease from the sausage if there is a lot.
Toss the pasta with the olive oil and herbs. Add the squash and sausage. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
Serve hot. Grate Parmesan cheese over each portion.
This fed our family of four with enough leftovers for the kids to have the next day. Everyone really liked this. I think its the perfect way to serve a hearty fall meal without a lot of cooking. Not including the time spent scowling at a frozen chicken, this took me about 30 minutes to prepare.
The only thing I don’t like about this dish is the name. Sausage squash pasta is just hard to say. It is descriptive, but boring. If you try this recipe, come back and tell me what you think. Feel free to get creative and change up the recipe too. And give it a better name.
Sausage squash pasta
Ingredients
- 1 12-ounce package of pasta
- 1 pound pork breakfast sausage
- 1 large or 2 small butternut squash
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (total) of dried herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Peel, seed and dice the butternut squash into small pieces. Add the squash to the water and simmer until it is soft, about ten minutes or so.
- Meanwhile, bring another pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, about 8-10 minutes, and drain.
- In a skillet, brown the sausage. Remove the grease if necessary.
- Toss the pasta with the olive oil and herbs. Add the squash and sausage. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
- Serve hot. Grate Parmesan cheese over each portion.
That was me this week, pull stuff out if freezer, etc and throw it together–making some of the best meals that way. I feel sorry for folks who can only stick strictly to the recipe.