Pumpkin sausage lasagna ~ creamy layers of pasta, pumpkin parmesan cream, Swiss chard and Italian sausage. This savory pumpkin pasta bake is perfect cozy fall comfort food!
I don't know about you, but I'm a pretty good home cook who learned from my parents, friends, cookbooks, food magazines and cooking shows ~ just to mention a few things. Isn't that how most of us learn how to cook? Those of us who didn't go to cooking school, that is.
This recipe comes from a church cookbook from my good friend in Minnesota. She highly recommended the pumpkin lasagna along with a few other dishes, like No Work Chicken.
Pumpkin lasagna sounded great but not for Meathead, so I decided to add some Italian sausage. The resulting Pumpkin, Swiss Chard and Sausage Lasagna exceeded our expectations ~ it's amazing!
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED
- canned pumpkin purée
- heavy cream, Parmesan cheese
- Swiss chard, onion
- nutmeg and sage
- bulk Italian sausage
- no boil lasagna noodles
- a little butter, milk, salt and pepper
Layers of noodles, creamy pumpkin and parmesan, sautéed Swiss chard and onions, and Italian sausage ~ kind of a white lasagna. Well, more of an orange lasagna, color-wise! It's savory, really creamy and full of flavor. Pumpkin is wonderful and often overlooked for savory dishes.
I used salsiccia Italian sausage. It has a pronounced fennel and anise flavor to it and is often the type of sausage used on pizza. But really, any Italian sausage works, sweet/mild or spicy/hot ~ your preference. If you want a vegetarian dish, just omit the sausage and make it as the original recipe.
This Pumpkin, Swiss Card and Sausage Lasagna is such a comforting dish, for a Sunday family dinner or entertaining. It's something a bit out of the ordinary and it reminds me to seek out and continue to try new things in my cooking.
And with the kids out of the house, I'm not confined by all their quirks and pickiness. Thanks Judith ~ for the lovely collection of recipes from your church and the delicious recommendation, miss you always! Enjoy ~ Kelly🍴🐦
You know what else is really good? My mom's lasagna recipe!
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UPDATED: Originally published in March, 2017. Spruced things up a bit and updated in September, 2020. No changes to original recipe.
Pumpkin, Swiss Chard and Sausage Lasagna
Ingredients
Swiss Chard Mixture
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped, small dice
- 2 lbs Swiss chard, washed, tough stems removed, chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Italian Sausage
- 1 lb bulk Italian sausage, or links with meat removed from casings (I used salsiccia ~ use whatever Italian sausage you prefer)
Pumpkin Mixtures
- 3 cups canned pumpkin purée (from one 28-oz can)
- 1½ cups heavy/whipping cream
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano)
- 1¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Assembly
- ½ cup milk
- 9 no boil lasagna noodles
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Prepare the Swiss chard mixture: Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, cook and stir until translucent, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and add chopped Swiss chard, all of it, and press down and stir until wilted. Add salt, pepper, sage and nutmeg and continue cooking and stirring until no liquid is left in pan, 5 to 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 400º.
- Meanwhile, while Swiss chard is cooking, brown the Italian sausage in another skillet over medium high heat. Break up the sausage while cooking into crumbles, stirring frequently until cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain grease and set sausage aside.
- Make pumpkin mixtures: In medium bowl, combine 2 cups pumpkin, ¾ cup heavy cream, ½ cup Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, sage and nutmeg (pumpkin/cheese mixture). Set aside. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1 cup of pumpkin with remaining ¾ cup heavy cream (pumpkin/cream mixture). Set aside.
- Assemble lasagna: Pour milk into bottom of 9" x 13" baking dish. Place 3 noodles widthwise in the dish and spread ½ the pumpkin/cheese mixture over the noodles. Scatter ½ the sausage crumbles over the pumpkin, followed with ½ the Swiss chard mixture. Add second set of 3 noodles, top with remaining pumpkin/cheese mixture, sausage crumbles and Swiss chard mixture. Place last 3 noodles on top. Pour reserved pumpkin/cream mixture evenly over the top and letting some run down the edges. Sprinkle with 1 cup grated Parmesan and dot with the butter, cut into 3 pieces.
- Cover carefully with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking another 15 minutes more, until lightly golden. Let rest 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
*I adapted this recipe from The Church of the Good Shepherd Cookbook; appears to originally come from Food & Wine, October, 2011
Lisa
Saturday 19th of November 2022
Can you make this the day before?
Kelly
Sunday 20th of November 2022
Hi Lisa, I've never made it that far in advance so I'm not sure.
Meathead
Thursday 24th of September 2020
The Great Pumpkin Lasagna rises again.
Kelly
Tuesday 29th of September 2020
🙄
Meathead
Friday 3rd of March 2017
A heavenly recipe from a church cookbook... it's all good.