This pasta dish with sausage, kale, and butternut squash, featuring Barilla’s Protein + Pasta combines some of my favorite seasonal fall produce! The caramelized onions and butternut squash give this dish the sweetness that pairs beautifully with salty sausage. The kale is cooked only until slightly wilted, giving the pasta a vibrant pop of green color.

Fall Flavors

This recipe was inspired by a meal I had last fall at a wonderful Italian restaurant. I loved the combination of sausage and kale in a lemony white wine sauce and wanted to re-create this dish using butternut squash to add some sweetness and pop of color!

Butternut squash and kale are two seasonal produce items I love to buy at the store or local farmers market. Butternut squash lasts a long time and can be used in so many dishes. I love adding it to grain bowls, salads, pasta dishes, or simply roasted with cinnamon for a nourishing snack!

Kale is a green leafy vegetable packed with vitamins A, K, B6, C, calcium, and potassium! The key to keeping your greens vibrant when cooking is to reduce the heat to low, cook in minimal liquid to prevent color and nutrients from leaking out, and place a lid over the pan to wilt the greens slightly before removing them from the heat.

Building a Healthy Pasta Dish

One of the first things I think about when building a healthy pasta dish that will give me long-lasting energy is including plenty of vegetables to boost fiber content! I think of seasonal produce items that will pair well together and build the dish based on these items.

Next, I think of my protein sources. Most of the time, I reach for plant-based protein sources like lentils, chickpeas, beans, nuts and seeds, nutritional yeast, edamame… the list goes on. When I add meat to a pasta dish such as this one, it’s usually not the center of attention. I like adding meat occasionally to enhance depth of flavor and offer a different texture to a dish. In this pasta dish, I used sweet Italian sausage for some added texture and saltiness.

Last, but certainly not least, is the addition of some healthy fats! My favorite all-purpose oil that is anti-inflammatory, rich in nutrients and, and packed with heart-healthy unsaturated fats is olive oil. I use olive oil in my salads, for cooking, and even in baked goods.

Protein Pasta

If you’ve perused the pasta aisle of any grocery store recently, you’ve probably come across a million different pasta options to choose from: gluten-free, low-carb, high-protein, whole-grain… and so many more.

The one thing I like to stress when it comes to the best pasta option is that there is no one-size-fits-all, healthiest choice. Oftentimes, I reach for the classic blue box pasta or a whole-grain option if I’m lacking fiber and whole-grains in my meals that day.

Recently, I’ve been focusing on incorporating more quality protein sources into my diet to help keep me full and energized after meals and slow the release of carbohydrates for longer-lasting satiety.

I love Barilla’s Protein + Pasta because it provides the classic taste and texture of pasta with the addition of some extra protein from lentils, chickpeas, and peas. I’ve tried my fair share of high-protein pastas on the market, and I must say, Barilla’s Protein + Pasta is the closest in flavor and texture to regular pasta; you can’t even tell it’s packed with extra fiber and protein!

Creating a Flavorful, Nourishing Pasta Sauce

There are so many pasta sauces to experiment with, but one of my all-time favorite combos is a simple lemon, olive oil, and white wine sauce with a bit of parmesan cheese mixed in. You can’t go wrong with lemon and white wine, and if you want a pasta sauce that is rich in flavor without overpowering the dish, this is a great option to try out.

To make the sauce, I started out by sautéing sliced onions and garlic in olive oil until the onion softened and began to caramelize. Caramelizing onions gives the sauce a sweet flavor and smooth texture that pairs well with the saltier ingredients in this dish.

After adding in the pork and cooking for about 6 minutes, I poured in the lemon juice and white wine, cooking on low for a few minutes or until most of the liquid had evaporated. Then, I added the kale and finished the dish off with some reserved pasta water to give the sauce a glossy finish. And to top it off, I grated some parmesan cheese overtop because you can’t go wrong with a little parmesan in a pasta dish.

Lemon and white wine sauce is one you can use for a variety of pasta dishes where you want the main ingredients (like vegetables and protein) to shine through.

A Healthy Weeknight Dinner

This dish comes together in a little over 30 minutes and is a great weeknight recipe to have on hand for busy days. You probably have most of the ingredients at home, and the recipe can be easily doubled for a great meal-prep option!

Feel free to experiment with ingredients you have on hand, and don’t be afraid to try out new combinations. I hope this recipe becomes one of your favorites this season!

If you give this recipe a try, I would greatly appreciate if you could add a comment and rating on this post. As always, I love to see your recipe creations on social media, so if you try this recipe out, be sure to tag me @sipandscone!

Liked this recipe? Check out some of my other simple and nourishing dinner recipes!

Print Recipe

Sausage, Kale, Butternut Squash Pasta

This pasta dish with sausage, kale, and butternut squash, featuring Barilla Protein + Pasta, combines some of my favorite seasonal fall produce! The caramelized onions and butternut squash give this dish the sweetness that pairs beautifully with salty sausage. The kale is cooked only until slightly wilted, giving this pasta dish a vibrant pop of green color.

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Course: dinner, lunch

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: butternutsquash, pastarecipe, proteinpasta, sausage, whitewinesauce

Servings: 4

Ingredients

8 oz (~ ½ box) Barilla Protein + Rotini
1 butternut squash (about 3 pounds) peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil divided
1 1/2 tsp salt divided
1 tsp black pepper divided
1/2 cup yellow onion sliced thinly into strips
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 cups kale
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Add the chopped butternut squash to a bowl and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Spread across a sheet pan. Roast the squash until tender and slightly brown, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
In the meantime, heat 1 ½ tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions, and once the onions begin to appear translucent, add the garlic and turn the heat to low. Continue cooking until the onion is soft and begins to caramelize (this should take about 10 minutes).
Remove the pork from the casing, discard the casing, and add the sausage crumbles to a bowl.
Once the onions are cooked, add in the crumbled sausage and ½ tsp each of salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until the sausage is cooked through ~6 minutes.
Add the lemon juice and white wine, cooking on low for ~5 minutes or until the wine has mostly evaporated.
In the meantime, heat 4 quarts of water on high heat and add 2 tbsp of salt to the water. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook until the pasta is "al dente" according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta but reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water.
Add the kale to the pan, cover, and cook on low until slightly wilted before turning off the heat.
Add the butternut squash, cooked pasta, and grated parmesan cheese back into the pan and mix together with a pair of tongs to combine. Add in extra reserved pasta water if needed.
Divide the pasta evenly among 4 bowls and serve with extra parmesan!