Pasta with Crumbled Sausage, Sage, & Winter Squash

This hearty pasta, featuring Rustichella d'Abruzzo PrimoGrano Sagne a Pezzi, is the kind of dish you'll be craving once the leaves change color and the weather starts to turn. Recipe developed by our friend Sara Jenkins, chef and cookbook author: Olives and Oranges and The Four Seasons of Pasta, co-written with her mother, Nancy Jenkins.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Sara Jenkins (with Nancy Jenkins)

Difficulty

Easy

Serves

Simple Tasty Recipes

Ingredients

Set aside 5 of the largest sage leaves to crisp in oil and use for garnish. Chop the rest to make 1–2 tablespoons chopped sage.
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat, then add onion and garlic. Remove sausage meat from their casings and as soon as onion and garlic start to sizzle, crumble sausage into the saucepan. Let the sausage meat cook briefly, tossing and stirring, until it has rendered out its fat. When it is no longer pink, stir in chopped sage. If using fennel pollen and/or pepper flakes, add now.
Bring a large pot of abundantly salted water to a rolling boil.
Add squash to the saucepan and turn up the heat to medium-high. Cook until squash is soft, cooked through, and some pieces are beginning to disintegrate. Keep the sauce simmering over low heat while the pasta cooks.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small saucepan over high heat and add reserved whole sage leaves. Sauté, turning, until the leaves are crisp, then remove to a paper towel to drain.
When the water is boiling vigorously, add pasta, return to a boil and cook just a few minutes. When pasta is al dente, stir a ladleful of pasta water into the sausage-squash sauce. Drain pasta and pour it into a warm serving bowl. Add the sauce, along with grated parmigiano, and toss. Garnish with chopped parsley and finally with the crisp fried sage leaves. Serve immediately, passing more grated cheese around the table.