Creamy Pumpkin Sage Pasta

I know it's customary for pumpkin recipes to flood the Internet in October/November and all but disappear with the coming of the new year, but hey, I'm an equal opportunity pumpkin eater. I don't believe in relegating delicious food to only specific times of the year (hence the reason I enjoy a nice bowl of ice cream quite frequently in the middle of February...)

Back in the fall, I went pumpkin picking and found a lovely little pumpkin that I proceeded to use in about a hundred different ways. First, I had a pumpkin painting day with some family and friends. Then I used it as festive decoration in my apartment. Once it served it's purpose there, I decided to wash off the paint, chop it up, and roast. I used some of the roasted pumpkin for side dishes, seasoning it in a variety of ways. The rest, I puréed and froze for later use. With a hankering for a hearty meal and some chicken sausage that needed to be used up, I pulled out one of the frozen containers the other day and whipped up this creamy pumpkin sage pasta with chicken sausage and peas recipe. Don't be discouraged if you don't happen to have any frozen pumpkin puree in your freezer. You could buy a can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) or even better, roast a bunch of butternut squash and puree half to make this for dinner and save half to make this salad for lunch the next day!

The dish is extremely simple: cook pasta (any kind of rotini, ziti, etc. will do) until al dente; reserve a cup or so of the water before draining. Then, sauté chopped onions. Meanwhile, combine your puree and with cottage cheese in a food processor and blend until smooth. Don't worry if you aren't a fan of cottage cheese; this doesn't actually taste like it. That's just what gives the recipe the creaminess. Once the onions are cooked, turn down the burner to low and add the pumpkin mixture to the pot. Add all of your seasonings and stir. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir once again. Slowly add in some of the reserved pasta water, stirring frequently, to loosen the sauce a bit until you've achieved your desired consistency (all noodles should be coated). I ended up using about 1/4 c.

At this point, you have some customization choices. If you'd like to use this as a side, you can stop there and just top it off with some shredded parmesan cheese. However, I wanted to make a meal out of it so I sliced and heated a link of precooked chicken sausage (mine was Wegman's brand but I'm also a fan of Al Fresco and Trader Joe's) which I added to the pasta along with some frozen peas that I zapped in the microwave. If you don't care for peas, I'd assume chopped spinach or cauliflower would also work, but the pumpkin, sage, sausage, peas, and parmesan flavor combination is highly recommended... by yours truly! 

Before getting to the recipe, time for another quick restaurant review -- I recently lunched at Merzi in Penn Quarter and was really impressed by how good it was for being essentially a fast food joint. It's essentially an Indian version of Chipolte; the food is made-to-order as you progress down the line. You have your choice of meat (or can go vegetarian), veggies, warm sauces, and cold chutneys served as a naan roll, rice bowl, chaat (over chickpeas, onions, peppers, and potatoes), or salad. I got the lamb chaat with all the veggies, spicy masala, tamarind chutney, and yogurt sauce, and would definitely go back to try more. It's quick, healthy, delicious and cheap so fingers crossed they decide to open more locations in the future. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Creamy Pumpkin Sage Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Peas

(Makes approximately 2 hearty or 3 modest servings)

2 1/4 c uncooked pasta 
1 c pumpkin puree
1/4 c cottage cheese
1/2 TSP sage
1/4 TSP pepper
1/4 TSP nutmeg
1/2 TSP garlic
1/2 TSP kosher salt
1/2 c frozen peas, microwaved according to package
1/4 c chopped onion 
Parmesan cheese
Chicken sausage

Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve a cup of the pasta water and drain. 

Meanwhile, combine pumpkin puree and cottage cheese in a food processor and blend until smooth. Saute onion over medium heat in a sauce pan until nearly translucent. Turn heat down to low. After a minute or so, add pumpkin sauce and spices and stir. Add cooked pasta and peas, stirring again. Slowly add in the reserved pasta water until you reach your desired consistency for the sauce. Serve topped with cooked chicken sausage and parmesan cheese.