Everyone loves a good casserole, right? The key word here is good. We've all had goopy, unappetizing messes inflicted upon us in the name of casseroles, but that really should be the deviation — not the norm. I love casseroles — the good ones. In fact, I just spent a year writing an entire book with 225 recipes for modern, fresh casseroles. This recipe isn't in the book, but it's very much in the spirit of things. Take a pound of pasta, a can of pumpkin, some cheese, some herbs, and there you go — a hot, bubbly, fragrant casserole for your Halloween weekend. All in about 10 minutes of work.
This casserole includes many of my favorite casserole elements. It isn't too full of cheese; there is only part-skim ricotta and a handful of Parmesan here — no heavy cream or gooey cheese. And yet it's rich and creamy, thanks to the pumpkin. It also has a little bit of crunch from the pecans, and protein from the eggs. There is a boatload of flavor from fresh sage and garlic, and a pinch of warm winter spices. Oh, and it's vegetarian too — yet hearty and completely satisfying for any omnivore.
But the real thing I love about casseroles like these is their convenience. I didn't do anything except cook the pasta and mix everything together. A little chopping, a little mincing, and then a quick bake. But this doesn't taste like convenience food — it's delicious, I promise.
If you don't have pumpkin puree in your cupboard, what about a can of sweet potatoes instead? Or a can of black beans, pureed into a creamy sauce for chewy pasta and cheese?

Pumpkin & Ricotta Pasta Casserole
serves 6
Olive oil
1 pound pasta, such as farfalle, small shells, or elbows
One 15-ounce container ricotta
One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/2 cup yogurt
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 cup grated Parmesan, divided
Heat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil. Set aside. Bring a 4-quart pot of water to boil over high heat, and stir about 1 tablespoon of salt. Add the pasta, and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for a slightly shorter amount of time than specified by the package. (For instance, if the package specifies 10 to 12 minutes, cook for 9 to 10, or until just barely al dente.) Drain the pasta and toss lightly with olive oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, pureed pumpkin, eggs, and yogurt. Whisk in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and ginger.
Stir in the pasta and coat completely with the pumpkin mixture. Stir in the pecans, chopped pecans, sage, and garlic. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan.
Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan over top. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
And if you'll excuse me a moment of rather blatant self-promotion, my book comes out in January, and there will be 225 more recipes rather like this one in there:
• Not Your Mother's Casseroles at Amazon (January 2011)
Now, your turn. Are there any favorite autumn casseroles or bakes you are enjoying this fall?
More Casseroles from The Kitchn
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• Clearing the Pantry? Make a Free-Form Pasta Casserole
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Comments (39)
you're saying heavy cream and gooey cheese like that's a bad thing!
Yummy. I was wondering what I was going to make for Sunday night's dinner given the juggle that is trick or treating early in the evening for my toddler and still answering the door every couple of minutes to hand out candy. This will be it.
This looks delicious... I intend to make this but I'll add hot italian sausage removed from the casing.
Thanks for the recipe, Faith; it looks wonderful. Do you think it will freeze well? I'm also curious to know when your book comes out. I've been looking forward to it for some time now. :)
@onebravegirl awww thanks! It comes out mid-January, but it might show up here and there a little earlier than that.
I have never frozen this, but I think it would freeze well. The only note is it isn't as fat-rich as the pasta casseroles I usually freeze. But it would probably be fine.
Oh. My. God.
This looks awesome. And I plan on buying your book for my mother when it comes out. We're both casserole addicts who have endured marriages with casserole-hating husbands (how someone can dislike convenient, creamy, hot bowls of delicious like this recipe is beyond me.)
I made this last night! I don't typically cook with fresh sage and I think I either used too much or just found it overwhelming because the sage dominated the other flavors. I think next time I will go for less sage and more garlic, or perhaps even basil? Regardless, it was yummy and the pumpkin gave it a lovely color.
Ingenious mix of pumpkin and pasta! I just made this and look forward to eating the rest tomorrow for lunch and making it again. Instead of ground ginger, I just had fresh ginger, which I chopped very finely with the garlic - delicious flavor bursts of these two ingredients along with the fresh sage made this an addictive dish. I forgot to toss the cooked pasta with olive oil, but the final product didn't seem to lack anything. Next time I might try some dollops of goat cheese on top or just replace with the ricotta.
I also made this recipe this weekend and I love it for both its simplicity and flexibility. I was nervous about the quantity of sage so I used less, I had some gruyere in the fridge so I added that to the top, and I used fresh ginger. Overall, the dish turned out wonderful. My dinner guests thought that is was missing a little something (perhaps because I didn't use enough sage) but found that a light sprinkling of smoked paprika OR chili powder really brought this dish to the next level.
I will definitely be making this again and may even use the above suggestions of trying basil and/or goat cheese.
Thanks for the recipe!
oh my, this sounds delicious. i'm afraid to try it because it seems like it would be difficult to stop eating. definitely not to be tried when home alone...
I love love any combination of squash and sage, and this recipe was no exception. So delicious!
can't wait to try this recipe! I love casseroles. :)
Can you make pumpkin puree out of fresh pumpkin? So many US recipes seem to call for cans of pumpkin puree and I have never seen it over here in the UK.
Heres a rcipe JMD: http://homecooking.about.com/od/vegetablerecipes/r/blv314.htm
This looks great! I've made a similar casserole with delicata squash instead of the pumpkin puree. It's a little more work since the squash needs to be cooked first, but sooo delicious!
I made this Saturday night at a friends' house and I'm making it again tonight for my husband! SO GOOD! I left out the nuts so it was little kid friendly. Everyone loved it. THANKS!
I keep seeing pumpkin/squash+sage recipes popping all over internet but I can't find fresh sage over here. How would you substitute it with dried? Or what other fresh herb would work? I have lots of basil...
I made this Sunday and am eating the last of the leftovers right now. It's delicious, and definitely something I will make again. Thanks!
T
@xieta, I usually don't put basil in cooked things like this - I find that it loses a lot of its flavor. But you could use a bit of pesto, or substitute a handful of fresh thyme or oregano leaves!
Oh my word I literally gasped out loud upon seeing this. I am going to make it tomorrow! However I am allergic to pecans. Any suggestions for a substitute to add some crunch?
I made this over the weekend for my sister's family and everyone loved it (including two kids). Next time I would add a bit more sage though, and perhaps more parmesan.
There is a vegan version of this in the Veganomicon and it IS delicious! My lovely friend just made it for me as a birthday present.
@whitlin are you allergic to all nuts? Just add some walnuts or pine nuts.
Fatith-yep...all nuts. I am deprived *shrug*.
@whitlin - maybe some breadcrumbs on top instead of the nuts?
@whitlin I had this really interesting dish a few nights ago where the chef mixed in tiny croutons that had been really, really well toasted. They popped and crunched in this really interesting way (it was a duck dish). You might want to try that; I am not sure if toasted croutons would soften up too much, but the idea intrigued me.
Very simple and tasty recipe. However, it didn't reheat that well, seemed to become grainy.
This was great-made this a few days ago and the leftovers kept beautifully and were just as tasty as the first go around. For reheating, I sprinkled the surface with water and the moisture allowed the pumpkin and cheese to regain its proper texture; nothing grainy here.
Thanks for the great recipe!
I had high hopes, but I disagree. I made this tonight as it *sounded* delicious. But it was just sooooo bland. I even added a hint of chili powder like someone suggested and it was still ho hum.
My husband made this for dinner and it was delicious! He thought it was too salty, while I thought it was flavored as impeccably as a comforting hot dish can get.
I made this a few days ago for dinner and wasn't impressed. It was pretty dry and a little bland, like some others mentioned. If I made it again, I would cover it while it baked and maybe throw some leafy greens in for some moisture and flavor.
unfortunately, i'm with xand83 and mckates on this one. my husband made this for dinner for us last night and it was pretty dry and bland. i think i was expecting something a little creamier. definitely needed some moisture. could have benefited from leafy greens as mckates suggests...and perhaps some sort of liquid or cheese. not sure i'd give it another chance, though.
what about chopped pepitas on top instead of pecans?! Salty, pumpkin goodness!
meh, i made this exactly as written. i agree that it was lacking--can't quite put my finger on it.
I made this last night and I agree with the reviewers who thought it was too bland and too dry. I think, what it might need (for my taste buds), is some acidity. So, tonight I'm going to put some tomato sauce on top when I reheat it. This past weekend my sister-in-law made pumpkin stuffed shells and the sauce really played nicely with the flavors (which were similar - pumpkin, ricotta, sage), so I've got my fingers crossed it will do the trick for me.
Tried this recipe tonight. Very easy to make, but I will tweak some ingredients next time. There's too much sage (and I love sage and squash!) I think I'll also try using pumpkin pie spice blend for more flavor - and more than just 1 teaspoon. I might also try adding a more dramatic, less salty cheese than parmesan. I do like Faith's suggestion of using pesto in this instead of sage, so I might try that, too! Great base to work from here, though. I'm eager to try it again.
Made this last night - or rather I made a variation of it. I used pureed squash and hazelnuts instead. Then I topped it with breadcrumbs and slightly more than a 1/4 cup of cheese. I can see how some people thought it was dry, it definitely is not "gooey." But for someone like me who loves the crispy corners of all pasta dishes, I loved that it was on the dryer side. I will try again and next time add sausage!
Just made this tonight! I added a whole can of black beans and I think it was sensational! I only cooked it for a little less than 30 min, and it wasn't dry or bland at all. :)