It is comfort food season. This is the time of year when it’s perfectly acceptable to eat ridiculous amounts of pasta and cheese…or pasta with cheese. And chocolate and cake and butter…you get it.

Muffin tops can now be camouflaged with this season’s hottest trend. The chunky sweater. Yes, that’s right….big, thickly knitted sweaters are making a comeback and we, my friends, can rejoice by eating large amounts of carbohydrates. If you don’t believe me, check out this article on StitchFix.

To celebrate, I made you a perfectly autumn-like pasta dish. Complete with yesterday’s recipe for Sage Pesto. My favorite flavor combination when it starts to get cooler is roasted butternut squash and sage with sausage. So…why not throw them all in a bowl together and call it a day.

Simple Sage Pesto

I did just that. This is a great recipe to serve your family on a busy weeknight if you plan ahead. You can roast the squash and make the pesto a day ahead and then boil the pasta while the sausage is browning the night of dinner. On the table in 20 minutes or less.

It’s equally impressive if you’re entertaining….just pair with a garden salad and crusty bread with a large amount of butter. And wine, lots and lots of wine, of course.

Butternut, Sausage and Sage Pesto Pasta

Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sausage and Sage Pesto

Serves 6-8 (depending on how hungry everyone is)

3 cups cubed butternut squash

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 pound pasta (I used DeLallo Gemelli)

1 pound sweet italian sausage

1 cup sage pesto (recipe from yesterday’s post)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss the squash with the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the squash evenly being sure they are not overlapping. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until the squash is tender. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a large pot, bring 5 quarts of water to a boil and add a handful of kosher salt. Add the pasta to the water and stir. Bring the water back to a boil and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for approximately 8 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, remove the sausages from the casings and brown in a large saute pan breaking up the sausage as it cooks. Set aside.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid, and transfer to a large bowl. Gently toss the pasta with the sage pesto, squash and sausage. Add some of the reserved cooking liquid if the sauce seems thick.

Serve immediately.

Butternut, Sausage and Sage Pesto