The baked pasta with pumpkin, sausage and provola without béchamel is an autumn recipe that can also be a one-dish meal, perfect when pumpkin recipes start to be in season, and delicious through late spring. In my house pumpkin is not a very popular vegetable, but since I am literally addicted to it, I always find playful pumpkin recipes that can win over the most skeptical. The baked pasta with sausage and pumpkin, as tasty as the vegetarian baked pasta or the saffron baked pasta, is exactly one of these. Have you ever tried pasta with pumpkin? If you’ve never felt inspired, try it baked with sausage, add plenty of cheese and you’ll see it will be really delicious! I make the baked pasta with pumpkin and sausage without béchamel, but while I cook the sauce I add one tablespoon of flour and milk so that a delicious cream forms that makes the pasta velvety and creamy. A few days ago I bought one of my favorite pumpkin varieties, the violina or butternut; I love it for its texture and slightly sweet delicate flavor, which pairs very well with stronger flavors like pancetta or sausage. I used part of it to make pumpkin cutlets stuffed with ham and cheese, and another part to make this baked pasta with pumpkin, sausage and provola; having my mother-in-law as a guest I wanted to win her over. She, like me, loves pumpkin and once she tasted this tasty pasta and pumpkin dish she immediately fell in love. Want to try this creamy, melty goodness too? Follow me in the kitchen and we’ll prepare it together, but before running to the stove, I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all the new recipes on the blog you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).

Looking for other tasty pumpkin recipes? Take a look:

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Low cost
Preparation time: 1 Hour
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring

Ingredients

4 1/4 cups pumpkin (violina (butternut))
1 1/3 lb sausage (pork)
1 onion (medium)
as needed extra virgin olive oil
to taste salt (optional)
3 tbsp + 1 tsp wine (white or red (about 50 ml))
1 tbsp all-purpose flour (00 flour (about 15 g))
2 1/2 cups milk
to taste pepper
to taste nutmeg
1.1 lb pasta (short (about 500 g))
10.5 oz provola (caciotta or mozzarella (about 300 g))
1 cup Parmigiano (grated (about 3.5 oz / 100 g))

Tools

Pot
Baking dish
Oven

Preparation of baked pasta with pumpkin and sausage

Rinse the pumpkin, take a portion, remove the seeds and fibers and slice it. Then remove the skin from the slices — this will make the process easier. Cut the pumpkin slices into small cubes.
Peel and chop the onion, then sauté it with a little olive oil. Remove the casing from the sausage and break it up.
Add the sausage to the onion and let it cook until it dries out a bit. Pour in the wine and let it evaporate completely before adding the pumpkin.
Then add the pumpkin cubes to the pot, stir, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
As soon as the pumpkin is soft, remove the lid, raise the heat and wait for it to brown again. Set aside a little pumpkin and only now add the flour, stir and pour in the milk.
Stir again and wait a few minutes so that a sauce forms.
If adding milk feels a bit strange, know that this step allows you to avoid buying béchamel or cooking it separately to add later. I prefer to do it this way — the result is better, I work less and dirty fewer pans.
Add a pinch of pepper and some nutmeg to the sauce and adjust the salt only if necessary — here in Sicily the sausage is quite salty so I don’t usually add any.
Cook the pasta and drain it al dente, toss it with half of the sauce and a handful of Parmigiano, then mix.
Spread a little sauce on the bottom of a baking dish and make a first layer of pasta. Sprinkle with Parmigiano and place slices of melty cheese on top — I used caciotta, but I often use provola or mozzarella.
Cover with more pasta, more sauce, Parmigiano, pieces of cheese and finally the reserved pumpkin with sausage.
Bake in a conventional oven at 392°F for 15–20 minutes. Once the cheese has melted and the surface is gratinated, remove from the oven, let rest for about ten minutes and serve hot and melty.
The baked pasta with pumpkin and sausage is ready. For best enjoyment eat it immediately while it’s still stringy; it’s still good warm but not the same as freshly baked. Store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container and consume within 24 hours after reheating in the oven, in an air fryer or in a pan with a little oil.