Creamy Butternut Squash Italian Sausage Pasta with Spinach is a cozy and comforting weeknight meal to make on a cold Fall or Winter night. This recipe uses unsweetened coconut milk and is dairy-free. Made with spicy Italian sausage and seasoned with nutmeg, red pepper flakes, and fresh thyme, this pasta dish is packed with flavor and might become your family's new favorite way to eat butternut squash!
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook it in salted water according to the package instructions, usually about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain. Proceed with the rest of the recipe while the water is boiling.
Cook sausage
Crumble the sausage into large pieces or remove the sausage from the casings and slice it.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in a large, high-sided skillet.
Add sliced sausage and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes on one side, without turning, to get the sausage slices browned. Flip over to the other side and cook for 2 more minutes.
Assembly
To the skillet with sausage, add 1 cup of butternut squash puree, 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk, minced garlic, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, and 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme (just leaves, no sprigs). Stir and bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
Add spinach gradually until it wilts, on low-medium heat, and stir everything well. Cook for about 3 or more minutes. Make sure the garlic is cooked to your liking.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add more seasonings to taste (nutmeg, red pepper flakes, and fresh thyme).
Add cooked and drained pasta and stir it in. Top with the remaining 1 tablespoon fresh thyme and red pepper flakes.
Notes
Make butternut squash puree in advance
The total cooking time does not include the time required for roasting the butternut squash and making the butternut squash puree. I recommend that you do that in advance.
Because you will be roasting whole butternut squash, you will have more than you need (1 cup) for this recipe. Refrigerate or freeze the leftover butternut squash puree in an airtight container.
You can use either fresh or dried thyme
Use 2 tablespoons of thyme leaves (no sprigs) if using fresh thyme. Half for the sauce, half for sprinkling on top as garnish.
If using dried thyme, use ½ teaspoon of dried leaves (not powdered) or ¼ teaspoon of powdered dried thyme.
How to make it ahead
If you want to make it ahead, I would suggest prepping the following steps a day or 2 in advance: Prep all the steps above the "Assembly" section in advance. This includes making the butternut squash puree, cooking pasta (al dente in this case!), and cooking sausage.
Then, when you are ready to serve, you can complete the recipe following the "Assembly" section of the recipe instructions - which should take under 10 minutes!