Pasta with Pumpkin (Butternut Squash) and Sausage Sauce straight from Bologna

Steven and I had a wonderful time in Italy.. . .of course we ate a ton of perfectly cooked pasta, drank fabulous wine almost everywhere we went and enjoyed more espresso and croissants than i care to admit. . . a dream trip really . . . except for the snow and ice. 

A big highlight of our trip was a cooking class that we took in Bologna courtesy of Maribel who runs the cooking school- Taste of Italy. We loved Bologna and within just a few hours of us having gotten off the train from Florence,  I was already trying to get Steven to agree we could move there (so far he's not leaving Brooklyn, but I will continue my efforts).  

Below are some pictures of us taking the class, trying our hand at rolling out pasta dough (which is not as easy as Italian mothers make it look that's for sure), and a recipe for the pumpkin and sausage sauce that we added to bow tie pasta. The sauce was flavorful and hearty yet also light leaving you feeling full and satisfied but not like you need to lay on the couch for a week. . .I loved it and think its a perfect sauce to help us all get through these cold snowy days. 

First, a peek at us making pasta dough by hand:

 
the basic ingredients are down- eggs and flour

working in the eggs

Steven working his dough and doing a fine job

   
my dough looking good after some serious assistance from Maribel

  

Tortellini with a ricotta filling- how cute are these? We made a butter and sage sauce for them that was also delicious.

 

The bow ties and some other shapes we made for the pumpkin and sausage sauce 

And now the recipe for the sauce. . . Published here with special permission from Taste of Italy-

Pumpkin and Sausage Sauce:

Serves 4 as a first course

**Note- although called pumpkin, the pumpkin is actually a winter squash such as butternut squash

Ingredients:

1 onion

150 g- 5 ounces pumpkin (butternut squash), peeled and cubed 

150g- 5 ounces sausage (mild)

White wine

Salt to taste

1-Cut pumpkin (squash) into small cubes and julienne the onion

2-Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a pan and add onion and pumpkin over medium heat cooking for app. 10 minutes

3-Squeeze the sausage out of its casing and add to the pan, cook for app. 15 minutes

4-Add half of a glass of white wine and allow to slightly evaporate

5-Cover and finish cooking over low heat for another 10-15 minutes

6- Add salt to taste

 the sauce as it is being prepared

And the finished meal- add grated Parmesan after serving and you are set. . . Enjoy!

  

Comments

[Wendy]

Thanks Maribel! We had a wonderful time. Keep in touch.

[Maribel]

Hi there, meeting you was a lot of fun!

I hope that the other sauces as well as the pasta have turned out well at home.

Best wishes
Maribel