This recipe for pasta with salsiccia, butternut squash and cavolo nero is a quick and easy, an ideal winter warmer, brimming with healthy vegetables and delicious flavours.
Curious orange
This version of my recipe for pasta with salsiccia, butternut squash and cavolo nero is a quick and easy recipe. It's fairly mild and creamy. But, you can easily make it more spicy or just as easily cook a lactose-free version.
I'm doing it with paccheri, one of my favourite pastas. But, you can do it pretty much with any pasta. However, I find it works better with larger pastas such as larger rigatone, conchiglie or papperdelle.
Salsiccia comes in many versions, from fresh to dried, spicy to mild, with fennel or without etc. This recipe requires you use a fresh version. Most fresh salsiccia are notably larger than standard pork (British or American) sausages, hence the quanitities in this recipe. Add an additional sausauge if yours are smaller.
Similarly, it's perfectly fine to use the versions with fennel of pepperoncino, but I'm using classic salsiccia with black pepper and sea salt. Conversely, if using the classic type and you'd like a bit of spice, you can add the pepperoncino during cooking.
The tomatoes used in this recipe are marinated semi-dried tomatoes, sometimes called "sun-kissed tomatoes", which usually come in a deli-style packaging. But, you can substitute them with preserved sundried tomatoes, though these have a far stronger flavour.
This version produces a mild, creamy outcome—which probably explains why kids love it. But, it's perfectly easy to make a lactose-free version or veggie version.
These quantities readily serve 2 to 3 diners, but can readily be stretched to serve 4 simply by cooking a little more pasta.
Shopping list
for the pasta with salsiccia, butternut and cavolo nero
2 salsiccia sausages, cut in the method below
1 large red onion, cubed
3 tspns of smoked garlic, finely chopped (or grated fresh garlic equivalent)
1 red bell pepper; roughly cubed
½ a medium butternut squash, cut into irregular, fairly large pieces
Approx 125g fresh cavolo nero
1 vegetable stock cube
2 tspns dried oregano
A bay leaf
½ tspn dried parsley
Approx. 4 tbspns olive oil
50g semi-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
Approx. 80g ricotta cheese
Approx. 100ml single cream
Hard Italian cheese such pecorino or gran padano, 2 tbspns of it finely grated
salt and pepper to taste
paccheri or other pasta; approx. 90 to 100g (dried) per diner
Cooking Method
Prepare the butternut and the cavolo nero. Peel the butternut squash and cut into irregular, near bite-sized pieces. Tear the cavolo nero leaves away from the central tough stems—tearing upwards from the bottom should see the leaf comes away in two long sections on either side—then wash and chop roughly into fair large pieces
Prepare you slasiccia. Cut each sausage in half vertically. Then hold the two halves together and cut into slices. As you do so, the sausages will break apart—salsccia's filling is roughly ground—and the skin may even come away. Don't worry, that's exactly what's needed for this recipe. Only do this shortly before cooking
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, dissolving a vegetable stock cube in it as it heats. When it boils, add the butternut squash. Add the bay leaf and sprinkle in the dried parsley. Cover and simmer fairly vigourously for 8mins
Then, add the cavolo nero to the same pot, cover and simmer for a further 5mins or until the butternut is cooked i.e. a fork passes easily through it. Drain; set to one side. You can do this immediately before cooking the rest of the dish or some time before
In a large, fairly deep frying pan with a lid, heat the olive oil on a medium/high heat. When hot, add the garlic and sizzle for a minute or so before adding the onion. Stir together and sauté for a few mins. Add some of the marinade from the semi-dried tomatoes—usually olive oil that has become a little diluted with the natural juices of the tomatoes. No more than 3 or 4 tbspns. Season with black pepper and salt to taste
Cover and reduce to a low/medium heat. Sweat the onions and garlic for at least 5 mins, stirring if needed. When the onions soften, add the bell pepper and 1 tspn of oregano and stir in. Add a little more of the marinade if necessary. Re-cover and cook these ingredients together. For this recipe, it's important that you cook these ingredients on a lower heat. So, don't worry about cooking them for 7 to 10mins, stirring occasionally. You want the onions and peppers to be more cooked than, for example, when adding the tomatoes to a sugo
Add your salsiccia to the pan, stirring in gently to ensure it's coated in all the juices. Don't purposely break it up: let that happen organically. You want the salsiccia pieces to vary in their final size. Cook on a low/medium heat until properly browned, stirring occasionally. You're unlikely to need to add any additional liquid to prevent sticking as the salsiccia releases juices. But, if you do, add a little more of the marinade. It might take 10mins or more for it to fully brown given the low/medium heat
When the salsiccia is nearly fully browned, bring a pot of salted water to the boil and cook your pasta—asssuming it will take 12 to 13 mins in the case of paccheri
Add the drained butterneut squash and cavolo nero to the frying pan with the saclsiccia and gently fold in—you don't want the butternet or salsiccia to break into tiny pieces. Increase to a medium/high heat and cook all of the ingredients for 5 mins, gently stirring occasionally. Add the remaining oregano and 2 tbspns of finely grated cheese to the top of the pan and gently fold in. Once the cheese has fully cooked in—about 4 to 5mins— add your chopped semi-dried tomatoes and fold in
Gently pour in the cream, stirring gently and cooking in for about 4 to 5mins. Reduce to a low heat. Add the ricotta and stir in. Almost immediately remove from the heat. Cover to keep warm while the pasta cooks
Drain the pasta and return to the hot pot. Gently pour the contents of the frying pan into the pasta pot and fold in, again, avoiding breaking up the butternut pieces. Plate and take to table, serving with additional grated cheese if desired
Alternatives
Okay, so this one presents some challenges for vegetarians and vegans given that it's built around salsiccia and dairy products. So, let's do this backwards. This dish is great without the two types of cheese and cream. You can make a delicious lactose-free version simply by leaving these out and dressing your piping hot pasta with a little extra virgin oil before adding the "sauce". Similarly, you could do this and make a verson that substitutes walnuts—making it vegan—or with the dairy if you're lacto-veggie. I've cooked both of these versions and they're delicious.
If doing the version with walnuts, add these just before the stage that you add the finely grated hard cheese in the steps above, otherwise they'll overcook.
I've never actually attempted a pescatarian version of this dish and not really sure how it would pan out, though I can envisage it working well with salmon, tuna or swordfish.
Pairings
This really is a "colour neutral" dish where wine is concerned. Somehow, I usually end up having it with with sparkling water with a slice of lemon or iced lemon tea—no complaints.
But, it really is one of those dishes that is equally good with both red and white wine. The sausage here—which isn't too "meaty"—blends so well with the sweeter flavours of the veggies, that its good with both red or white wine.
Take it in a heavier winter direction with a good chiatni or San Giovese. But it works equally well with a good Pinot Grigio—yes, I can't believe I'm actually saying that given the horrific British pub and supermarket connotations, but they do exist. But how, of course, could we ignore a good pecorino given the ingredients? The best bang-for-buck I ever got that worked superbly with this dish was Caparrone Pecorino Colline Pescaresi 2021. Just saying...
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