Pumpkin and sausage pasta in the air fryer is a tasty autumn main course, ideal for Sunday lunch. A simple recipe that you can prepare in advance and cook at lunchtime or dinner. Using the air fryer will take just a few minutes to have a perfectly gratinated dish.
After cleaning and cutting the pumpkin into pieces, it is cooked with an onion sauté and then combined with crumbled sausage after removing its casing and cooking it for a few minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the béchamel, which will complete the dish with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan or Grana Padano.
You can further enrich and personalize the baked pumpkin and sausage pasta by adding cheese chunks. You can also choose to replace the pasta and make a lasagna with the same ingredients. The baked pumpkin and sausage pasta is a rich and delicious first course, like these Mushroom and Sausage Lasagna in Air Fryer and the Gratinated Fusilli with Pumpkin and Zucchini.
Let’s see how to prepare the baked Pumpkin and Sausage Pasta in an air fryer.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Air Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 14 oz butternut squash
- 9 oz sausage (pork)
- Half onion
- 1 1/4 cups béchamel sauce
- 2.8 Parmesan cheese, grated
- to taste salt and pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- to taste nutmeg (grated)
- to taste salt and pepper
Tools
What you need to prepare the baked pumpkin and sausage pasta
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 Small saucepan
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Pot
- 1 Air fryer
Steps
Start by cleaning the pumpkin, removing the skin and seeds, and cut it into pieces. Clean and chop the onion and let it soften gently in a frying pan with some extra virgin olive oil.
Add the pumpkin to the onion, add a little water, cover with a lid, and cook until softened.
Once ready, set it aside. Proceed with preparing the sausage: remove its casing and crumble it with your hands.
In the same pan you used for the pumpkin, brown the sausage for a few minutes, stirring. Add the pumpkin, mix, and let it season, adjust the salt, and add a little pepper.
Meanwhile, put water in a pot and cook the pasta. Drain it a couple of minutes before the time indicated on the package, otherwise, it will become too cooked after the second cooking in the air fryer. Add the pumpkin and sausage seasoning and the grated Parmesan to the pot and mix (set aside a little to sprinkle on the surface of the pasta for gratinating).
Prepare the béchamel by melting the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the flour, and with the whisk, mix well. Return to heat and cook for a minute.
Add the milk a little at a time until the béchamel thickens. Adjust the salt and add a grating of pepper and nutmeg. At this point, add the béchamel to the pasta already seasoned with sausage and pumpkin and mix everything.
Transfer the pasta to a baking dish and sprinkle the surface with cheese.
Insert the tray into the air fryer and cook at 356°F for 12 minutes.
Here is the baked pumpkin and sausage pasta ready.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What are the cooking times and temperatures in the oven
In a preheated oven at 356°F for 20/25 minutes until golden brown
