Recipe Box, Pumpkin & Sausage Pasta Pillows with Chardonnay Béchamel

the Painted Apron

8 years ago

Are you ready for Halloween?

Here’s a perfect dinner for your trick or treaters that will make everyone happy!

Soft pillows of pumpkin and sausage stuffed pasta covered in a chardonnay*cream sauce

*substitute chicken broth or any white wine

It is sure to keep hungry goblins happy

Here are the ingredients

Start by browning the sausage and cooking the pasta shells

Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water

Melt butter in saucepan and fry sage leaves

or saute the leaves in the skillet you used to brown the sausage and set aside to drain on paper towels

The chardonnay béchamel sauce sounds fancy but it’s very simple to make

Add flour to the butter in the sauce pan and cook 1-2 minutes forming a roux

Next add garlic and cook and stir 1 minute, then add milk or cream

Cook and stir several minutes until sauce thickens

Add wine slowly to thin sauce and use reserved pasta water or more wine if necessary to reach desired consistency

The sauce should be fairly thick, but still pourable

Season well with salt and pepper, and stir with a whisk to smooth any lumps

Add cheese and set sauce aside while you prepare filling

Mix together pumpkin, egg, ricotta, sage, cheese and seasonings

Mix in sausage

Drain pasta and stuff shells

Put 1/3 of sauce on the bottom of a greased baking dish and place stuffed shells on top

Cover shells with remaining sauce and a sprinkle of Parmesan

Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours if desired before baking uncovered for 45-60 minutes

Serve it up!

This recipe was adapted from Damn Delicious

Pumpkin & Sausage Pasta Pillows with Chardonnay Béchamel

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Chardonnay Bechamel sauce, fall casserole, fried sage, pasta casserole, pumpkin and sausage pasta, pumpkin stuffed shells

Cook Time 45

Servings 4

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta shells and stir. Cover and turn off heat, leaving pot on the hot burner.
Brown sausage in skillet, crumbling while browning, and remove to paper towels to drain.
Melt butter in medium sauce pan. Fry sage leaves in melted butter or in sausage drippings in skillet and remove to paper towels to drain.
Add flour to melted butter in saucepan and stir. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute or until brown and incorporated. Add milk, cook and stir, using a whisk to get ride of lumps. Add wine or broth to thin sauce. Add reserved pasta water if needed until sauce is desired consistency. The sauce should be thick, but pourable. Add cheese and stir. Set sauce aside.
Combine pumpkin puree with sausage, egg, Parmesan, nutmeg, chopped sage in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and mix evenly.
Grease a 1 quart, or small baking dish and spread about 1/2 of the sauce over bottom
Drain pasta, separate shells and let cool slightly. Fill shells with pumpkin mixture and place tightly together in baking dish on top of sauce layer. Cover with remaining sauce and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan. Cover and refrigerate until baking.
Bake uncovered for 30-60 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Baking time will depend on whether the dish was refrigerated prior to baking or baked directly after assembly
Garnish with fried sage leaves.
Makes 4 large servings