Description
This Pasta Bake with Pumpkin Tomato Sauce is a comforting and flavorful dish perfect for a family dinner. Creamy pumpkin sauce combined with mushrooms, spinach, and a cheesy topping creates a delicious meal that everyone will love.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Pasta:
- 1 lb. dry pasta of choice (such as mezzi rigatoni, shells, ziti, fusilli, or farfalle)
Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh sage leaves, divided
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 oz. cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, sliced
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 to 4 handfuls fresh baby spinach
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin purée
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups grated fontina cheese, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 375ºF. Boil salted water and cook pasta until 2 minutes shy of al dente.
- Prepare walnut-sage mixture: Toast walnuts and sage in butter, then set aside.
- Sauté mushrooms and onions: Cook until soft. Add tomato paste, garlic, red pepper flakes, spinach, and seasonings.
- Make the sauce: Add vegetable broth, pumpkin purée, Parmesan, and fontina cheese. Stir in pasta.
- Bake: Transfer to a baking dish, top with fontina cheese and walnut-sage mixture. Bake covered, then uncovered until cheese is melted and golden.
Notes
- You can customize this dish by adding cooked chicken or sausage for extra protein.
- Feel free to swap the fontina cheese with mozzarella or provolone for a different flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 780mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 60g
- Fiber: 6g
- Protein: 15g
- Cholesterol: 25mg
