Creamy Sausage Pasta in Pumpkin, Sage & Mascarpone Sauce

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Created with autumnal comfort food in mind, this creamy sausage pasta dish makes for a great way to use up any leftover pumpkin after Halloween. If you can get hold of some canned pumpkin, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy this at any time of the year.

Sage-stuffed Cumberland sausage slices are teamed with homemade pumpkin, sage, and mascarpone sauce and fusilli twirls, finished with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and sage leaves for a hearty autumn meal that’ll be on the table in less than an hour.

Bangers and mash in onion gravy, sausage casserole, and creamy sausage pasta bake – just some of the dishes that sprang to mind when Edwards of Conwy challenged me to come up with an autumnal comfort food dish using their Cumberland Pork Sausages.

Made in Wales using Red Tractor British Shoulder of Pork, Edwards of Conwy’s Cumberland sausages are packed into natural hog casings along with fresh herbs and spices, including sage.

Creamy sausage pasta

I’m a sucker for a creamy sausage pasta bake when the nights begin to get darker and colder, but I fancied doing something a little bit different from the norm; still, a steaming hot bowl of pasta sounds like perfect autumnal comfort food to me.

If there’s one seasonal vegetable that goes particularly well with sage – onion aside, of course – it’s pumpkin.

As Halloween is almost upon us, pumpkin is in its prime and, in just a few days’ time, many of us are going to find ourselves with an abundance of the stuff on our hands.

So, what better way to make the most of any leftover pumpkin than by whizzing it up into a creamy pasta sauce with sage and mascarpone, to serve with Edwards of Conwy’s Pork Cumberland sausages?

Meaty and well-seasoned, Edwards of Conwy’s Pork Cumberland Sausages are ideal for a comforting, creamy sausage pasta dish.

These are top-quality sausages, so you can be confident they won’t fall apart or disintegrate in the pan during cooking, regardless of whether you’re removing them from their casing or serving them sliced up as I’ve done here.

The sausages can be stored in the fridge, or frozen for up to one month. Once opened, you’ll need to use them within two days, and before the use-by date.

Pumpkin, sage and mascarpone sauce

With an estimated 14.5 million pumpkins set to go uneaten this year, this quick and easy pumpkin, sage and mascarpone sauce recipe makes for a wonderful way to ensure your leftover pumpkins will get eaten after Halloween.

However, this isn’t to say that you can’t enjoy this recipe at any other time of the year, as you can use canned or pureed pumpkin if you can’t find fresh pumpkin. To find canned pumpkin in the UK, you’ll probably need to visit the American food section of your local supermarket or, alternatively, pop into an American candy store.

What kind of pasta is best for creamy sausage pasta?

You could serve this smooth, pumpkin-rich sauce with a variety of different pasta shapes including penne, rigatoni, farfalle or fusilli, for example.

Personally, I find fusilli to be the perfect vessel, as the hearty sauce clings to the little grooves in between each spiral.

How to make creamy sausage pasta in pumpkin and mascarpone sauce

Once you’ve accomplished the task of preparing, roasting and pureeing the pumpkin, my creamy sausage pasta in pumpkin, sage and mascarpone sauce really couldn’t be easier to make.

I’ve included some tips on how to puree a whole pumpkin in the recipe widget below, but if you haven’t done it before, take a look at this video for a visual guide. Make sure you arm yourself with a sharp knife, too.

If you’re in a hurry, feeling lazy or just can’t find fresh pumpkin, you can use the canned variety. You can find pureed pumpkin sold in a can in most big UK supermarkets, although you may need to look in the American food section for it. Failing that, American candy shops andl delicatessens often stock it too.

Once the pumpkin has been pureed, you just need to pan-fry the sausages and saute the shallots, garlic, sage, carrot and celery for around ten minutes, until softened, before adding some dry white wine and allowing the sauce to simmer and reduce down.

At this stage, add some nduja (spicy, spreadable Calabrian pork sausage) or dried red chilli flakes along with the pureed pumpkin, and blitz the mixture in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a saucepan over low heat and stir in the mascarpone cheese, stirring continuously until thoroughly combined.

Then, just slice up the sausages (to around one centimetre in thickness) and add them to the sauce, and cook and drain the pasta.

You can either cook the Cumberland sausages beforehand and slice them up to add to the sauce afterward as I’ve done here, or remove the sausagemeat from its casing and cook it in the frying pan before you begin cooking the sauce, removing with a slotted spoon and setting aside once cooked through so you can add it back into the pan once you’ve finished making the sauce.

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Creamy sausage pasta in pumpkin, sage and mascarpone sauce

Created with autumnal comfort food in mind, this creamy sausage pasta dish makes for a great way to use up any leftover pumpkin after Halloween.

Sage-stuffed Edwards of Conwy Pork Cumberland sausages are teamed with homemade pumpkin, sage and mascarpone pasta sauce and fusilli twirls, finished with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and sage leaves for a hearty autumn meal that'll be on the table in less than an hour.

If you can get your hands on some canned pumpkin, there's no reason why you can't enjoy this at any time of the year!

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine British, Italian

Keyword mascarpone, pasta, pumpkin, sausages

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 557kcal

Author Kacie Morgan

Cost $3

Equipment

• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Baking paper/parchment
• Oven tray
• Blender or food processor
• Frying pan
• Cooking tongs
• Sauce pan/s
• Colander
• Cheese grater

Ingredients

• 300 g pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt to taste (plus extra to add to the pasta and roast the pumpkin)
• 8 Edwards of Conwy Cumberland sausages
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 2 shallots finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1.5 tbsp fresh sage finely chopped
• 1 large carrot peeled and finely diced
• 1 celery stalks finely chopped
• 50 ml dry white wine
• 1 tsp nduja or dried red chilli flakes
• 100 g mascarpone cheese
• 300 g pasta shapes

To garnish

• Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan grated
• Sage leaves
• 0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• If you're using fresh pumpkin as opposed to canned pumpkin, start cooking this first. If using canned pumpkin, skip this step.

  Slice the pumpkin in half carefully using a sharp knife, scoop out the seeds, rub the pumpkin all over with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt, and bake in the oven at 175° for around 45 minutes, until tender.

  Once cooked, peel off the skin (you might need to allow it to cool a little first!) and cut the pumpkin into chunks. Transfer the pumpkin chunks to a blender or food processor and blitz to form a smooth puree.
• Around 20 minutes into roasting your pumpkin, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the sausages over medium heat for 14-16 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the pan with tongs and transfer to a plate to rest.
• As the sausages are cooking, melt the butter in a frying pan and saute the shallots, garlic, sage, carrot and celery for 8-10 minutes, until softened.
• Pour in the white wine and allow the sauce to reduce down.
• Add the pureed pumpkin and nduja or chilli flakes and blitz the mixture together in a blender until smooth.
• Stir through the mascarpone and continue to cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes until melted, stirring continuously.
• Slice the cooked Cumberland sausages to around one centimetre-wide and add to the sauce.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta until firm (al dente) and drain, stirring a splash of pasta water into the sauce to bring it all together.
• Stir the sauce through the cooked pasta, and garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, sage leaves and freshly ground black pepper to serve.

Notes

• If you prefer, you can remove the sausagemeat from its casing and cook it in the pan prior to preparing the pasta sauce, removing it from the pan with a slotted spoon once cooked and adding it back into the pan afterward.  
• While October is the obvious time of year to eat pumpkin, it’s entirely possible to source pumpkin year-round in the form of canned or pureed pumpkin. You can usually find it in the American section of your local supermarket or in American candy stores like Americandy. If you’re in a hurry or feeling particularly lazy, using canned pumpkin is also much quicker and easier than hacking up a pumpkin, cooking the flesh, and pureeing it in the blender. 
• Don’t throw away your pumpkin seeds! Instead, rinse them off and dry them thoroughly. Then, toss them in olive oil and sea salt and place them in a hot oven on a tray lined with baking paper for around 15-10 minutes, until crisp and crunchy. Delicious!

Nutrition

Calories: 557kcal

More recipes using sausages

• Venison Sausage Rolls
• Nduja Sausage Hash
• Maple Sausage and Brussel Sprouts Hash
• Glamorgan sausages (traditional Welsh meat-free ‘sausages’)

About Edwards of Conwy

37 years ago, it dawned upon Ieuan Edwards (one of three brothers born on a family-run farm in Llanwrst, north Wales) that, unfortunately, their farm wasn’t quite big enough for he and his two brothers to farm it. Recognising a need to find his own unique talent, he decided to train as a Master Butcher, eventually opening a butcher shop on the High Street in Conwy.

Still thriving on the High Street to this day, Edwards of Conwy sells the finest PGI Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef (sourced only from cattle reared in Wales), poultry, game, pork, dry cured hams and bacons, sausages (made using Red Tractor British pork shoulder), pork pies and meat boxes.

To date, Edwards of Conwy has won over 200 awards throughout its history, including been named Welsh Butcher’s Shop of the Year for three consecutive years, as well as winning Britain’s Butcher’s Shop of the Year in 2014.

Following the continuing success of the Edwards of Conwy shop, the family launched a commercial production facility 17 years ago on St. David’s Day, under the name of The Traditional Welsh Sausage Company (‘We Are Edwards’). The Traditional Welsh Sausage Company is responsible for taking the same high-end sausages, bacon, gammon and burgers sold in the Conwy-based butcher’s shop to supermarket shelves UK-wide.

Find Edwards of Conwy’s products in leading supermarkets throughout the UK.

What’s your go-to autumnal comfort food dish? Leave a comment to let me know.

Before you head off, be sure to pin this post so you can come back to it once you’re ready to shop for ingredients and get cooking!

I have linked this recipe to #CookBlogShare run by Sisley & Chloe, which was hosted by Chloe at Feast Glorious Feast.

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