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.
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!