Creamy Sausage Pasta with Spinach and Spaghetti Squash
- Preparation 20 min
- Cooking 1 h 30 min
- Servings 6
- Freezing Absolutely
Ads
🎃 Spaghetti squash is good for way more than substituting
Everyone treats spaghetti squash as a pasta replacement to eat lighter. I see it differently: I’ve always loved squash, and in a pasta dish, it’s absolutely delicious. It adds texture, it adds flavor. So why not work it into all kinds of recipes instead of always using it in place of something else? Here, it joins the casarecce rather than replacing it, and the whole thing turns into a spaghetti squash pasta nobody has to apologize for.
🍝 Not a diet dish at all, but so good
Let’s be clear: this is not a health dish in disguise. It’s a creamy sausage pasta, it’s indulgent, there’s a pound and a half of sausage meat in it. And that’s exactly why it works. Kids go crazy for this recipe because there’s real pasta on the plate, not just a vegetable pretending to be one. The roasted squash melts into the cream sauce and adds its texture without anyone feeling shortchanged.
🧀 Bacon and cheese sausage, pecorino and casarecce
I like making recipes that stand out, so I went with bacon and cheese sausage instead of the classic Italian. Pecorino romano, with its salty, sharp edge, cuts right through the cream. And casarecce, those little twisted noodles, grab onto the sauce and the squash strands perfectly. Roast your squash, build your sauce, and you’ve got a comforting dinner that never misses.
Ads
Ads
🔪 How to cut a spaghetti squash without losing a finger
Most intimidating part of the whole thing, and honestly it’s manageable. Big heavy knife, drive the tip straight into the center to pierce through, then lean on the spine of the blade toward the base with your right hand while your left holds the squash steady. Work it down with short chops. Or find yourself a ninja willing to karate-chop it for you.
🔽 Cut side down, and a full hour at 425 °F (220 °C)
Roasting spaghetti squash cut side up is my usual move and it’s great. Not here. When the squash is headed into a cream sauce, cut side down lets the moisture run out onto the sheet pan instead of pooling in the cavity, so less water ends up thinning your sauce later. An hour in the oven, then ten minutes of cooling before you drag a fork through it. Roast it the day before if you want this to be a fast weeknight dinner.
💧 Save some pasta water
About 1/2 cup (125 ml) before you drain. That starchy water is what makes a cream sauce coat the noodles instead of pooling under them. Add it a splash at a time, right at the end, until the texture is what you want.
🧀 Pecorino goes in off the heat
Pull the pot off the burner before the grated pecorino romano goes in. A hard, salty cheese like that blends into residual heat and gives you a smooth sauce. Over direct heat it seizes into clumps instead. Stir until you can’t see it anymore.
🥄 Sauce too thin? Let it simmer
It’s never happened to me, but if yours looks loose, give it a few more minutes before serving and the excess cooks off. Remember the pasta keeps drinking the sauce once it’s plated, so slightly loose in the pot is not a problem.
🎃 What to do with the other half of the squash
You only need half, so don’t throw the rest out. You can gratin it and eat it as is, or stir the strands into your homemade spaghetti sauce. Roasting both halves at the same time costs you nothing but a bit of sheet pan.
✅ What to serve with this creamy sausage pasta
Individual bowls, very hot, with more pecorino grated over the top. A green salad and good bread on the side and you’re set. If spaghetti squash is your thing, my bacon and spaghetti squash meatloaf and my spaghetti squash and chicken lasagna pull the same trick.
Ads
Ingredients
- 1/2 spaghetti squash, seeds removed
- Olive oil
- 1 lb (454 g) casarecce pasta (or another short twisted pasta)
- 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 lb (650 g) bacon and cheese sausage meat
- 5 oz (142 g) baby spinach
- 1 cup (237 ml) 15% cooking cream (crème champêtre)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
- 2 cups (500 ml) grated pecorino romano cheese
Ads
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 425 °F (220 °C).
- On a baking sheet, drizzle the spaghetti squash with olive oil, then season generously with salt and pepper. Place it cut side down: moisture escapes better this way, which is ideal when the squash is headed into a creamy sauce. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool 10 minutes, scrape out the flesh with a fork and set aside.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta al dente following the package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup (125 ml) of cooking water, then drain the pasta and set aside.
- In the same pot heated over medium, add the onion and garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring.
- Add the 1 1/2 lb (650 g) of sausage meat and cook 7 to 8 minutes, stirring. Break it into small pieces. Drain the fat if there’s too much.
- Add the spinach and the spaghetti squash strands and cook 2 minutes, stirring.
- Add the cream, the milk and the pasta, then season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat, add the pecorino and stir until fully melted. Add a bit of the reserved cooking water or milk to loosen the sauce as needed. Serve immediately!
Honestly, not really, and I don’t think that’s what it’s for. It doesn’t taste like pasta and it never will, so asking it to stand in for pasta is setting it up to lose. What it does beautifully is join the pasta. In this recipe the strands sit right alongside the casarecce and bring their own texture and flavor, and nobody at the table feels shortchanged.
One hour at 425 °F (220 °C), cut side down on a sheet pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Then let it cool about 10 minutes before you scrape it, because a hot squash slides around and steams your hands. You can roast it the day before and keep the strands in the fridge, which turns this into a quick weeknight dinner.
The skin is tough, so you need a big heavy knife and good technique. Drive the tip of the knife right into the center of the squash to pierce through, then press down on the spine of the blade toward the base with your right hand while holding the squash firmly with your left. Then work it down with small chops. Take your time, the squash is stable once the tip is planted.
It depends what you’re doing with it. For spaghetti squash I’m serving as is, I roast it cut side up and find it works great. But when it’s headed into a cream sauce like in this recipe, I put it cut side down: moisture escapes toward the pan rather than pooling in the cavity, and your sauce stays creamier.
Yes, it freezes well. The texture isn’t quite identical after thawing, but it’s still very good. Thaw it in the fridge, then reheat in a pan with a little milk to bring the creaminess back to the sauce. It’s perfect for weekday lunches.
Ads
Ads
Ads
Ads
Ads