Rachel Ray's Pumpkin Pasta

I was watching Rachel Ray one day and she made this beautiful Pumpkin Penne Pasta dish. I was so excited about it I set out to make it gluten and dairy free. My first couple of attempts were so BLAH. Mostly because the original recipe she had on TV has white wine in it and she said to cook your own pumpkin and puree it. Well...let's just say there's a lot of different sizes of pumpkins and my recipe tasted like you licked the inside of a jack-o-latern. Ha ha. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad but needless to say, after realizing not any sized pumpkin would do, here is my version of Rachel Ray's Penne Pumpkin Pasta. 

This dinner kind of looks like a hamburger helper meal but it tastes SO MUCH BETTER than one! The great thing it's a spectacular way to get your kids (or husband) to eat squash because it's hidden in the sauce. 
 

Pumpkin Pasta
(Gluten-Free, Corn-Free, Nut-Free, Can be Dairy-Free)
Adapted by jalene from a recipe by Rachel Ray

Ingredients:

• 8 oz gluten-free spiral or penne pasta 
• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
• ½ lb pork sausage (natural with no msg, GF) 
  
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped) 
  
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (see note)
• 1 cup chicken broth 
  
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or coconut milk if making dairy-free
  
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp sea salt 
  
• pinch of fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried sage powder
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg 

Preparation:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt water, cook pasta to al dente. 
   
2. While pasta is cooking, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add sausage, brown and crumble while cooking. Add garlic and cook 3-4 minutes. 
   
3. In a blender, add squash puree, chicken broth, coconut milk, salt, pepper, 1 Tbsp oil, sage, and nutmeg. Blend until smooth.
4. Pour sauce over sausage, add pasta and stir until combined. Serve warm.

Makes 5 cups

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Notes from jalene:

*You can use canned pumpkin or you can make your own by following these directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425. Split squash in half, scoop our seeds, rinse and dry them, drizzle with olive oil, and place on a small baking sheet. Cook until tender. 
   
2. Scoop our squash and add to food processor. Puree until smooth.
3. Freeze bags with 1 cup puree for easy future use. 

*I noticed my brown rice noodles sucked up a lot of the moisture from the sauce after being in the fridge overnight so if you're having leftovers, you can add a little more chicken stock to revive it. 

*My 1 year old has a hard time eating rice noodles. I think it's a texture thing. I got her to eat this meal by cutting up the noodles very small and adding 1/2 cup hot chicken broth to make a soup. She loved it then!