This Gal Cooks

Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake

Pumpkin dishes don’t necessarily have to be sweet. Take your next pumpkin dish to the savory level with this Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake!

Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake form www.thisgalcooks.com #pumpkin #pasta #savorydishes

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Hooray for Friday! You’ve probably heard that from a few different people today, haven’t you? This week has been a surprisingly good week for me. Surprisingly good because we had our system conversion at work on Monday. Things have gone pretty smooth for the most part. There were a few hiccups but that comes with a system conversion.

Today I’ll be leaving work a little early. I have to take the little one – little one as in pup – to the vet. She’s due for her follow up check up to make sure that her skin infection has ceased to exist. She’s so funny when I take her to the vet. She gets extremely excited to go for a car ride but once we step foot in the vets office she turns into a nervous wreck. She walks to the door as if she will be able to leave. I feel bad for her. I’m not sure why she is like this now. When she was younger she didn’t mind going to the vet. She wasn’t thrilled about it but she didn’t go into panic mode either. I attribute her change in attitude to her age. She’s 13 1/2. She’s quite the old lady, although she still looks like and sometimes acts like a pup. She’s just being grumpy when she goes to the vet, right? Anyways, once we leave the exam room she turns into a happy dog. She walks around sniffing everything. She walks up to the gals working in the office, all while wagging her tail. I think she knows it’s almost time to go home!

So about pumpkin. Savory pumpkin.

Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake3Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake

I made this dish for my submission to this month’s Spiked! Recipe Challenge hosted by Carrie from Frugal Foodie Mama and I. This month’s ingredient is Fall beers. I opted for Shipyard Pumkinhead Ale. Yea, Beer Advocate doesn’t rate it very well but I like it well enough. It’s not as good as my favorite, UFO Pumpkin Ale, but I didn’t want to use one of those up in this dish. I wasn’t up for drinking a beer the night I made this so what didn’t get used in the recipe got dumped down the drain. Oh the horrible thing I did by pouring part of a beer down the drain. But what can I say. An opened beer doesn’t fare too well in the refrigerator.

Spiked Recipe Challenge: Fall Beers. Brought to you by This Gal Cooks and Frugal Foodie Mama

Ken and I both enjoyed this dish. In fact, we darn near gobbled all of it up. Apparently my recipe is enough to feed all of Kings Landing in Game of Thrones. Not really but there was enough to fill up an 8.5×11 baking dish. But that didn’t stop the two of us from finishing all of it but one serving by Wednesday. I made this on Sunday. So if you’re feeding a crowd in one sitting or feeding a couple in multiple sittings, your set with this Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake. Enjoy!

Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake

Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake

Yield: 12 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 16 oz whole wheat penne pasta
  • 1 29oz can of pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
  • 1 15oz container of part skim ricotta
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 C pumpkin ale (I used Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale)
  • 2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
  • 1/2 lb of Fontina cheese, shredded (I purchased a half pound block from my grocery store's deli department as I've never even seen already shredded Fontina cheese)
  • 1 C part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 C parmesan cheese, divided
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 C frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook the pasta until it's reached your desired consistency
  2. In a large pot over medium heat, saute the garlic and spinach in the butter until tender. Add the sage and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the nutmeg, pumpkin puree, beer, parmesan cheese and ricotta. Mix well. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.
  3. Stir the pasta into the sauce. Pour into a greased 8.5x11 baking dish.
  4. Combine the remaining parmesan cheese, the mozzarella cheese and the fontina cheese. Sprinkle over the pasta.
  5. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. After baking, turn the broiler on low and broil until the cheese is slightly browned.

Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake. This cheesy bold pumpkin pasta bake is easy to make and perfect for dinner!

SPIKEDRECIPECHALLENGE

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57 comments on “Four Cheese Pumpkin Pasta Bake”

  1. Julie, I love how you incorporated pumpkin into this baked pasta. Also glad to hear that you had a great week!

  2. This recipe is so creative with the pumpkin and beer, Julie! I’m really impressed! I have yet to try pumpkin in a savory dish, but this definitely works trying. Thanks for the recipe!

  3. This is awesome :) Really need to get on board with some pumpkin baking!

  4. Oh my goodness……This looks so delicious! I have no idea why I never thought of putting pumpkin in a pasta dish (even though I love butternut squash and pasta). Plus fall beers (which are my total favorite)? This dish was made for me, wasn’t it?

  5. Looks great! I still need to come up with a recipe :-)

  6. A yummy pan of goodness! Thanks Julie! :-)

  7. Happy Friday Julie! This pumpkin pasta bake sounds delicious! Love the idea. Hope your pup’s appointment with the vet went well. Have a stellar weekend! :)

    • Thank you, Anne! My pup’s appointment went well. She is healthy and doing well and her infection is gone. Yay!

      Welp, here’s to starting a new week. At least its a short one for me. Hope you have a good one!

  8. I love pumpkin in a savory dish and this pasta dish looks amazing! My mom makes a great pumpkin sauce, which reminds me that I need to ask her for that recipe. Anyway, I’m glad your work week went well. My work week wasn’t that great but it’s the weekend so it’s time to decompress. Your puppy sounds adorable. :)

    • Yea, you need to get that recipe! I think the next savory pumpkin dish I will make is some sort of pumpkin soup. I’ve seen a few recipes that have intrigued me to give it a try.
      Hope you have a great week, Tina!

  9. I’ve never had pumpkin as a savory, but why not? It’s sorta like butternut squash….and what’s not to love about cheese and pasta? I might be adding this to my Pumpkin Patch Party this year…. Thanks for sharing!

  10. Ok, not only do I love that you created a savory pumpkin dish but that you added Pumpkin Ale to it as well! WHAT?! LOVE it. Can’t wait to try this.

  11. I love the addition of pumpkin ale to the already great baked pasta!! What a great idea Julie. I’m glad your week went well. Hope you are having a great weekend too!

  12. Love this Julie! It’s got the flavors of pumpkin ravioli with a whole lot less work!

  13. This is so creative!!! My boyfriend doesn’t care for cheese but I just might make this anyway!!

  14. Very interesting. I love pasta and cheese. It would be good to have a try at this recipe which includes pumpkin. Thanks for sharing Julie!

  15. yum this looks so delicious! I am pinning it!

  16. I seriously can’t wait to try this recipe out. I love it so much I’m sharing it today! Already on fb and pinned… (=
    (I just love your puppy dog…she’s so damn cute!)

  17. This bake looks absolutely incredible Julie! So beautiful and cheesy – yum! Pinned :)

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  19. Schneikies Julie! That’s some tough competition to come up against. That looks A-mazing!

  20. This sounds REALLY good! I recently tried a recipe for spaghetti in a pumpkin sauce and it was just okay. I was kind of disappointed because I really liked the idea of pasta and pumpkin. I have a feeling that this recipe would give me more of what I was looking for!!

  21. That pasta dish looks amazing Julie!! For obvious reasons I will be avoiding it, but it really looks tasty. ;) I’m glad the pup is doing better. Mine hates going to the vet and always has!

    • Thank you, Lisa! Let me know if you try it out in a dairy free version! I’ve been eating cheese and other dairy (not milk unless it is in something) but I have also been popping a lot of Lactaid pills. :P

  22. Toto, I have a feeling were not in Kansas anymore. Your recipe and photo make me feel like I am in the wonderful land of Oz. thanks for hosting the Spiked challenge. I enjoyed participating.

  23. Julie, this looks amazing! I’m definitely pinning this one. :)

  24. This sounds SO incredible, Julie. What a fabulous idea… I think I still have one more pumpkin beer in the fridge… I can’t wait to try this!
    ang

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  27. Hi Julie, this recipe looks fantastic and I am planning on making tonight! One question-in the ingredient list there is no nmention of Parmesan cheese but it is referenced in the instructions. How much parm should I add? Thanks!

    • Oh my! Thanks for catching that! Sometimes I think I need to get a proof reader because I don’t always catch things I leave out when I do it myself! I used about 1/2 C of parmesan cheese but of course, you’re always welcome to use more. There’s nothing wrong with a little extra cheese, is there?! :)

  28. 13 1/2!!! Your girl is getting up there! She sounds so sweet. I have no idea why the vet makes them all nervous. Maybe the smells?
    This Pumpkin Pasta Bake looks amazing Julie!!! Really delicious! I just made pumpkin chili last week– it is so delicious in a savory dish!

    • Thank you, Heather! I think it may be the smells and just that she is getting older. When she was younger she didn’t like the vet but she didn’t turn into a nervous wreck!

      Mmm, pumpkin chili. That is something that I need to try ASAP!

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