Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Bake with Crispy Sage and Pecans
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My pumpkin pasta bake uses cottage cheese instead of cream, and it melts into soft specks all through the pasta as it bakes. Cayenne keeps the casserole savory, and butter-crisped sage and pecans take it over the top.
Cottage cheese is my shortcut to a creamy pasta sauce, and I use it here instead of the cream or ricotta most pumpkin pasta bakes call for. Stirred into the canned pumpkin, it looks thick and a bit lumpy, which is exactly right. Once it hits the hot pasta with a generous splash of the cooking water, it loosens into something creamy, and by the time it comes out of the oven, the cottage cheese has melted into soft little specks throughout the pasta.
What I like most is that this doesn’t taste like fall dessert. I skip the nutmeg everyone else reaches for and use cayenne instead, so the sauce runs savory and a little warm. Red onion goes in rather than yellow, because it turns sweeter and jammier as it softens, and the kale keeps enough bite to cut through the richness.
The sage and pecans get crisped in butter and go on at the very end, never stirred through, so they’re still crunchy when the pumpkin pasta bake comes out of the oven. The pecans are the part people doubt. One reader, Catherine, wrote that she expected them to be strange and that everyone agreed they made the recipe.
What to serve with this pumpkin pasta bake
This is dinner on its own. It’s rich and filling, and most nights I don’t put anything else on the table.
When I do, it’s always something sharp and green to cut through all that cream. A roasted brussels sprouts caesar is my usual pick, since the lemon and parmesan stand up to the pumpkin better than a lighter dressing would. Arugula wild rice salad works for the same reason, and the peppery arugula does a lot of the work.
If you’d rather have a hot vegetable, keep it simple and acidic. Sauteed asparagus with a squeeze of lemon is about right.
Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Bake with Crispy Sage and Pecans
Ingredients
- 12 ounces short pasta
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 10 whole fresh sage leaves
- ½ cup raw pecans (coarsely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium red onion (thinly sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 14 ounce canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon EACH: black pepper and cayenne
- 8 ounces mozzarella (grated)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve one cup of the pasta cooking water, drain the pasta, and then return it to the pot.12 ounces short pasta
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the rest of the recipe. Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the whole sage leaves and cook until they're crispy, about 1 minute. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.1 tablespoon salted butter, 10 whole fresh sage leaves
- In the same pan, add the pecans and let them toast until they are fragrant, about 5 minutes.½ cup raw pecans
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook till soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and kale and cook until the kale is wilted, about 2 minutes.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 medium red onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 cups chopped kale
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the pumpkin, cottage cheese, sage, black pepper, cayenne, and salt.14 ounce canned pumpkin, 1 cup cottage cheese, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, ½ teaspoon EACH: black pepper and cayenne, 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Pour the pumpkin sauce over the cooked pasta, add the kale and half of the mozzarella cheese, and mix well. If the pasta seems dry, add some of the reserved pasta water until it is nice and creamy.8 ounces mozzarella
- Transfer the pasta to a 9×11-inch casserole dish and top with the remaining mozzarella, crispy sage leaves, and buttered pecans. Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes, or until the pasta is hot and bubbling.
Nutrition
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This came out great. Will definitely be making again. I did take the advise of one of the reviewers who said the sauce was too thick and needed to be thinned out. While blending I adding some half and half and once I mixed it all together with the pasta, it was still a bit too thick so I added some reserved pasta water. Instead of a cup of cottage cheese I used 1/2 cup plus another 1/2 cup of ricotta. I used the mozzarella per the directions but I also topped everything with 1/2 cup of grated fontina cheese before popping it into the oven. I also used rotini, not fusilli.
Definitely a keeper! We loved it. I did change it up a bit:
Subbed smoked paprika for cayenne, since we’re not huge fans of spicy hot.
Put the cottage cheese and pumpkin in the blender to make it nice and smooth.
And then I reserved a bit of mozzarella and the nuts, threw everything in the pasta pot, mixed it up, topped it with the cheese and nuts and popped it in the oven.
So happy to hear that the recipe was a hit!
Ahhhh mazing. So so good. For my hubby I thew in some sausage instead of the pecans. Instant favorite for all of us including our one year old baby girl; who said, and I quote, ” mmmmmmm” and cleaned her plate.
Awww I love it! Best compliment!
We love this! I thought the pecans would be strange but everyone agreed that they made the recipe. Will make it again!
I’m so happy you liked the recipe!
Delicious!! My husband and I couldn’t stop eating it! I loved the contrast of the pecans to the creamy sauce and I thought the use of red onion was really unique. We are adding this to the fall dinner rotation!
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit!!
Super excited to try this tonight! Swapping ricotta for cottage cheese (because cottage cheese freaks me out) and adding some ground turkey (browning it in the dutch oven after the onions but before the kale) at the request of the BF – fingers crossed it all works, it sounds divine!
I hope you love it!!