Creamy Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sausage and Kale
This Creamy Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sausage and Kale is the perfect comfort dish for fall! This easy weeknight dinner uses store-bought cheese ravioli, with lots of veggies coated in a rustic sage cream sauce. On the table in 35 minutes!
Servings: 4 to 6
Calories: 930kcal
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ pound sausage bulk, ground
- 3 cups butternut squash cubed small
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 18 ounces cheese ravioli
- 3 leaves kale chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup cooking water from the pasta more as needed
- 1 cup cream
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ cup fresh sage chopped
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- Prepare your vegetables. Peel the butternut squash with a vegetable peeler, cut off the ends, and cut it in half lengthwise. Remove the seed cavity with a spoon or ice cream scoop. Cut it into small cubes, about ½ inch. To slice your kale, cut it off the stems and pile up the leaves on your cutting board in a tight wad. Hold that tight pile with your left hand and thinly slice it with your knife in your right hand, making little ribbons. Then give the ribbons a rough chop. Mince the garlic and sage.
- Preheat a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. In half the skillet, brown the sausage. In the other half, saute the butternut squash. Try to keep them separated as best you can. Season the squash with salt. Saute about 12 minutes until the sausage is fully cooked, stirring occasionally and breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon.
- Meanwhile, set water to boil and cook your ravioli following the package instructions. Add a pinch of salt to the water, the brand I used was 3 minutes. Reserve about 2 cups of the starchy cooking liquid before draining. Use a ladle, measuring cup or coffee cup to scoop it out!
- When the sausage is fully cooked, add the kale and garlic and cook another couple minutes. Everything can be mixed together.
- Add 1 cup of the starchy cooking water from the pasta water and use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the bites of flavor from the pan. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the squash is soft and cooked through. Taste one! Depending on how small you cut the squash, they might be done already or may need a few minutes.
- Add the nutmeg, sage, and cream and simmer over low to medium low heat another 5 minutes until the sauce starts to reduce and thicken.
- Add the ravioli to the sauce and mix gently to combine. Add the Parmesan cheese. Garnish with more fresh sage and serve. If your sauce becomes too thick at any time, add a bit more of the pasta cooking water (or regular water if you run out).
Notes
- Depending on the size, you won't need a whole butternut squash for this recipe. You can store the extra in the fridge for 2 days, or freeze for another use.
- Be sure to save some of the pasta cooking water before draining.
- Be sure your squash is cooked through and not hard before adding the cream, taste one!
Nutrition
Calories: 930kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 58g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 183mg | Sodium: 1618mg | Potassium: 736mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 16415IU | Vitamin C: 63mg | Calcium: 339mg | Iron: 16mg