Pumpkin & Sausage Stuffed Shells with Chardonnay Bechamel
This is a perfect Fall comfort meal…
Soft pillows of pumpkin and sausage stuffed pasta
covered in a chardonnay* cream sauce
*substitute chicken broth or any white wine
It sounds complicated, but I promise it’s not
Here are the ingredients
Start by browning the sausage and cooking the pasta shells
Drain pasta when just done and reserve 1/4 cup pasta water
Melt butter in the skillet you used to brown the sausage
and fry sage leaves then 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 with pumpkin mixture
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!
Pumpkin & Sausage Pasta Pillows with Chardonnay Béchamel
Ingredients
Pasta
- 12-16 jumbo pasta shells*
- 8-12 fresh sage leaves for garnish
- 1 oz shaved Parmesan for topping
Filling
- 1 cup pumpkin pureé about 1/2 of 15 oz can of pumpkin
- 8 oz breakfast sausage hot or mild
- 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan
- 1 T chopped fresh sage leaves
- dash of nutmeg
- salt & pepper
- Sauce
- 2 T unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/8 cup flour
- 1 cup half and half or milk
- 1/4-1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
- 1/4 cup reserved pasta water
- 1/4 cup shaved or shredded Parmesan
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- 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
Notes
This recipe will put anyone under a pumpkin lover’s spell!
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The chardonnay bechamel sounds divine!
Thank you Dorothy, creamy, dreamy good!
Jenna, this looks and sounds wonderful! We love pasta, so I will definitely try this recipe! Thank you and I miss you on the hops! Happy Tuesday!!
Thank you Pam, don’t tell Butch it has pumpkin, he’ll never know! I miss the hops too, so sweet of you to say…
Yes, to serving up some yummy autumn delights!
‘Tis the season!
This sounds like a perfect fall dish! I am going to make this!
Jenna, I just love your description of this recipe. It looks really delicious and I agree that pasta is comfort food. So perfect for the beginning of fall. I enjoy seeing your little drawings as well. Have a great week.
Thanks so much Judee, the sauce is dreamy good~
Thanks Nancy, enjoy!
The perfect fall comfort food Jenna! 🍂🧡
thanks Mary!
This sounds fairly easy to make, but should certainly impress guests!
It’s not hard at all, make it ahead of time and time just pop in the oven!
That sounds incredible!
Thanks so much Joanne!
Oh my, this looks so good. The sauce sounds absolutely divine. Pinning this for sure. Thanks for sharing and happy Thursday!
Thank you Kim, the sauce is dreamy!
A lovely dish for autumn Jenna. We love pasta and this one sounds delicious.
The sauce is a wonderful change up 🎃