Penne Pasta With Pumpkin And Sausage - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil plus 1 Tbsp.
1 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage (or links if you can't get bulk)
4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf (fresh or dried)
4 to 6 sprigs fresh sage leaves, cut into thin strips (about 2 Tbsp.)
1 c. dry white wine
1 c. chicken stock (canned or paper container)
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. (3 turns around the pan) heavy cream
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
coarse salt and black pepper
1 lb. penne pasta, cooked to al dente
Romano or Parmesan (for grating)

Preparation

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. If using link sausage, split casings and remove meat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel-lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender. Add bay leaf, sage and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan. Reduce heat and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce. Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves. Serves 4.