Baked Pasta with Pumpkin and Stracchino Bechamel

Name: Baked Pasta with Pumpkin and Stracchino Bechamel
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: Reginette pasta 1.1 lbs; Butternut squash (to clean) 1.7 lbs; Smoked scamorza cheese 5.25 oz; Shallot 1; Grana Padano PDO cheese to grate 5.3 oz; Water 2 ¾ cups; Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Sage to taste; Fine salt to taste; Black pepper to taste; Stracchino cheese 8.8 oz; Whole milk ¾ cup; Nutmeg to taste; Fine salt to taste

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708

Calories per serving

Vegetarian

Energy Kcal 708
Carbohydrates g 76.5
of which sugars g 8.7
Protein g 33.9
Fats g 29.6
of which saturated fat g 16.1
Fiber g 3.8
Cholesterol mg 93
Sodium mg 872

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 60 min
Serving: 6
Cost: Average

PRESENTATION

Baked pumpkin pasta is that kind of dish everyone loves, especially when it gets chilly and you want something creamy and cozy. Really good stuff. So, in Northern Italy, they get super creative with leftovers, and this dish is just that. Pretty much. You’ve got this cool, long pasta—not your usual short kind—and they mix it with zucca violina, a pumpkin that's sweet and silky. And the sauce? Stracchino-based béchamel. Stracchino's a soft cheese that makes everything moist and rich. Mixing it with roasted pumpkin? I mean, it creates a tender base that just wraps around the pasta. Seriously good. And when it's baked, the top gets all golden and crispy.

For get-togethers or a lazy Sunday lunch, this pumpkin pasta bake is where it's at. It's got that familiar Italian pasta comfort, plus a tangy twist from the pumpkin and stracchino. Pretty much the best. In places like Lombardy or Emilia-Romagna, folks might argue about whose version rocks more. Each area does its thing. Some pile on the cheese, others go all in with the béchamel, and a few even sprinkle breadcrumbs for a crunch. That sweet pumpkin, savory cheese, and those crispy edges make it exciting.

Look, it is not just any fall dish. It's way, way better than other pumpkin dishes like risotto or gnocchi because of its texture and that comforting casserole vibe. Whether you call it pumpkin pasta bake, pumpkin and béchamel pasta, or pumpkin pasta with cheese, it’s always a win when folks gather around. Really. Enjoy the rich flavors and comfort this dish brings—making it a must-have in any Italian-inspired meal. For real.

INGREDIENTS

708

Calories per serving

Ingredients for the Pasta: Reginette pasta 1.1 lbs (500 g); Butternut squash 1.7 lbs (750 g) - (to clean); Smoked scamorza cheese 5.25 oz (150 g); Shallot 1; Grana Padano PDO cheese 5.3 oz (150 g) - to grate; Water 2 ¾ cups (650 g); Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Sage to taste; Fine salt to taste; Black pepper to taste

For the Stracchino Bechamel: Stracchino cheese 8.8 oz (250 g); Whole milk ¾ cup (180 g); Nutmeg to taste; Fine salt to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Baked Pasta with Pumpkin and Stracchino Bechamel

To prepare the baked pasta with pumpkin and stracchino béchamel, start by cleaning the pumpkin. Peel it 1, remove the strings and seeds, and then cut it into large pieces. You will get 500 g (1.1 lbs) of cleaned pumpkin 2. Then peel the shallot and slice it into rings 3.

Finally, cut the sage into strips 4. Now that everything you need is ready, let's move on to cooking. In a saucepan, heat a drizzle of oil along with the shallot. A few moments later, add the pumpkin 5 and the sage 6.

Turn up the heat and stir frequently to flavor everything well 7. Add the water 8 and cover with a lid, letting it cook over medium heat for about ten minutes 9.

After this time, remove the lid, season with salt and pepper, increase the heat, and cook for another 7-8 minutes 10. Once cooked, turn off the heat and blend it with an immersion blender to get a cream 11. Set the cream aside and take care of the smoked scamorza, cutting it into cubes of about an inch 12.

Now move on to the stracchino béchamel. In a bowl, pour the stracchino along with the milk 13, activate the immersion blender 14, and obtain a homogeneous cream. Then season with salt and grated nutmeg and stir 15.

At this point, you can cook the pasta in boiling salted water, being careful to drain it halfway through cooking 16. Pour it into a container and then gradually into a 14.5x9.5 inch baking dish, in which you have already poured a little stracchino béchamel 17. Sprinkle the surface with a bit of pumpkin cream 18,

also add some smoked scamorza cubes 19, Grana Padano, and pepper 20. Repeat, alternating the layers as before. So start with the pasta and stracchino béchamel 21.

Then the pumpkin cream 22, the scamorza cubes, Grana Padano, and pepper 23. On the last layer, pour the remaining pumpkin cream 34,

the béchamel 25 and sprinkle with pepper and the remaining Grana Padano 26. At this point, your baked pasta with pumpkin and stracchino béchamel can bake in the oven at 392°F for about 35 minutes. Once out of the oven, all that's left is to serve it 27!

Storage

You can store the baked pasta with pumpkin and stracchino béchamel in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2-3 days, keeping it covered with plastic wrap. You can prepare everything in advance, even the pasta can be cooked beforehand as long as it's placed in a container and a bit of oil is added to prevent sticking. If you prefer, you can also freeze it.

Advice

You can replace the butternut squash with Delica or Neapolitan pumpkin. You can make the baked pasta with pumpkin and stracchino béchamel even richer by adding seasonal vegetables and choosing whether to blend them with the pumpkin or leave them whole in the pasta. If you want to make the pasta more fragrant, add some grated lemon zest which pairs wonderfully with the sage!

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.