Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta

If you're like me you read that title and had two thoughts. 1) "Sausage and pumpkin together? Gross." 2) "There is no way my family would eat that, especially if I told them what it was called. Who eats that stuff?" I stand corrected, because, apparently, my family does. The amazing part was that everyone liked it- even after I told them the name. Most had seconds. Steven took his first bite and declared it "disgusting". I chose to ignore him and was surprised a few minutes later to hear him declare it "delicious" and go back for more. In fact, he just came back in for another serving and we finished dinner 2-1/2 hours ago. Thinking that was just about as miraculous as it could get, I thought I'd share the recipe. I did make a few changes for tonight and I'll put those at the end.

Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta
Healthy Cooking Magazine Dec/Jan 2010 p. 61

Prep: 20 min.
Cook: 15 min.
Yield: 4 servings

2 cups uncooked multigrain bow tie pasta
1/2 lb. Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
1/2 lb. sliced, fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup white wine or additional reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in a large non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook the sausage, mushrooms, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the chicken broth, pumpkin, wine (extra broth), sage, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until slightly thickened.

3. Drain pasta; add to the skillet and heat through. Just before serving, sprinkle with cheese and parsley.

Nutrition Facts: 1-3/4 cups equals 348 calories, 9 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 38 mg cholesterol, 733 mg sodium, 42 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 23 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 starch, 2 lean meat, 1 vegetable, 1/2 fat.


Now, for the changes:
1) I hope it goes without saying that I used chicken broth and not white wine.

2) I'm fresh out of pumpkin, but I have a TON of zucchini from the garden this summer. It's even already pureed because I hide it in lots of dishes. I made a double recipe tonight, so I used 2 cups of pureed zucchini, but did not add the extra 1/2 cup (1 cup for a doubled recipe) of chicken broth because the zucchini was pretty runny.

3) I used a 1 lb. chub of mild sausage that I had in the freezer. I'm not a sausage aficionado (or how ever you spell it), so I don't know if that changes the taste at all.

4) Most of our family doesn't like mushrooms, so I added the same amount of TVP instead to keep up the bulk. (Don't know what TVP is? Click here for an introduction.)

There you have it. A miracle in a cook book. Hope it's as big a hit at your house as it was at ours.