This was one of the first proper meals I cooked in the new house after moving to Minnesota! I made it in a half-setup, half-unpacked kitchen, and enjoyed at a kitchen table in a room that didn’t have a ton of other furniture. It may have even been the meal made to celebrate having a kitchen table. But I made it for family, it was chilly outside, and it was a delicious meal! I wanted to post about it then, but things were a bit chaotic. So it feels fitting to make it again, a year later! And this time, I substituted pumpkin pasta, because… of course.
Scissor-cut pasta really feels like such a “life hack.” It’s just taking an incredibly simple pasta dough and cutting up into pieces with scissors. It boils for 3 minutes, and then you have homemade pasta with so little labor. The pasta tastes and has a texture that’s a bit like gnocchi, but it way easier to make from scratch. I made a pumpkin version this time, but I’ve included the recipe for plain and pumpkin noodles below.
And this sausage and veggie pasta sauce is really great. It’s the epitome of comfort food! But it has a good mix of veggies and protein, and the recipe verrry flexible. I didn’t really measure anything, just followed the rough layout of the recipe, and it worked out. And you can of course use store-bought noodles, or swap out whichever veggies you want. (I know some readers of this blog don’t enjoy cooked spinach.)
As we’re entering comfort food season, this really hits the spot. Not every fall meal can be soup and grilled cheese! Just a lot of them.
I wish I had more to say about this pasta. But truly, it’s just a great meal.
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Serves 4
Ingredients
For regular noodles:
- 2 cups (250 g; or more) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt
- 1 cup water
For Pumpkin Noodles:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1 14-ounce can pumpkin puree (or about 1 2/3 cups homemade puree)
- Vegetable oil (for shears)
For the pasta:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
- ½ cup dry white wine (I used a middle-shelf, Josh Chardonnay)
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- Fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 green peppers (chopped)
- 1 yellow onion (chopped or diced)
- 1 bag fresh spinach
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- Shredded Parmesan cheese (to garnish)
Instructions
You can choose between regular or pumpkin noodles for this recipe! The only difference is the dough.
For the regular noodles: Mix 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 cup water in a large bowl with your hands until a shaggy dough comes together. Knead in bowl, incorporating any loose bits, until dough forms into a smooth ball and no longer sticks to bowl, about 2 minutes. If dough is not coming together, mix in more water ½ tsp. at a time; if dough is too sticky, mix in more flour 1 tsp. at a time. Cover bowl with a damp paper towel or plastic wrap and let dough rest at room temperature while you work on the sauce.
For the pumpkin noodles: Pile the flour in the middle of a bowl or clean countertop. Make a well in the center, and add in the pumpkin puree. Using clean hands, mix together the puree and flour until it forms a stiff dough (adding more flour if needed to make it not sticky). Cover bowl with a damp paper towel or plastic wrap and let dough rest at room temperature while you work on the sauce.
Make the sauce: Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil with some minced garlic in a pot. Once it is bubbling and aromatic, add the ground sausage and stir.
Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove lid and increase heat slightly, cook until browned, 5-7 minutes. Remove the sausage and set aside, but leave the leftover oil at the bottom of the saucepan.
Add the white wine and tomato paste to the pan and set to medium heat. Use a silicone spatula to mix it all together. Let it bubble gently until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
Add in your chopped onions and green peppers and let cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and seasonings. Stir in the heavy cream. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Stir in the softened cream cheese.
Add in the cooked sausage and give it a stir before leaving the sauce on low while you cook the pasta.
Bring a medium pot of water to a simmer. Coat a pair of kitchen shears with vegetable oil and snip off ½” pieces of dough directly into simmering water. When all of dough has been snipped, increase heat and bring water to a boil. Cook noodles, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until most have floated to the surface, about 3 minutes. Drain before adding to the sauce.
Add the spinach, stirring and letting it wilt down in between additions until you’ve added the whole bag. Add the pasta and mix everything together. Serve and garnish with shredded Parmesan as desired.
Notes
Inspired by: Cozy Cook, Bon Appetit, and Wholefully