Whoo, that’s a long title!  And I’ll be honest – this does take a bit of time to prepare.  But if you have an extra hour on a Sunday night and want to make a delicious dinner with generous portions that you can eat the whole week through and not stop loving – try these Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Shells with Pumpkin Sage Béchamel.

I was going to post my take on this recipe, since I made a few changes for my family, but I didn’t take careful note of my measurements. Food blogger fail!  So I’m just giving you the recipe I found at A Beautiful Bite.  I do want to note that I switched out cottage cheese for ricotta in this recipe, and it worked great.  Just buzz it in the food processor for a few seconds and it’s indistinguishable from the pricier ricotta.  Also, I ran out of sage and I had to garnish with parsley.  In any case, this recipe was a big hit, and it reheats well, so we’ll be seeing this again in our house.

 Sausage and Mushroom Stuffed Shells with Pumpkin Sage Béchamel

(Recipe Courtesy of A Beautiful Bite)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pasta shells, cooked al dente
• 32-ounce ricotta cheese (or use cottage cheese)
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper to taste
• 1 pound Italian sausage (I used sage breakfast sausage)
• 2 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 4 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
• 6 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated for topping (I skipped this)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper.  Set aside.
2. Cook shells according to directions on box.  Drain and let cool.
3. While shells are cooking, brown sausage in a large skillet.  Remove from skillet and place meat on a paper towel to drain.  Reserve 1 tablespoon of the fat to cook the onions in.
4. Cook onions in fat over medium heat until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for just a minute.  Add mushrooms and sage and cook for another four to five minutes.  Remove from heat and add cooked sausage.   Allow to cool for several minutes.
5. Stuff shells with ricotta mixture, then top with sausage mixture.  Place shells in a 9×13 baking dish.  Set aside while you prepare béchamel sauce.
6. In a large heavy pot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add flour and cook, stirring, for several minutes.  Add milk, pumpkin, yogurt, Parmesan, and ricotta.  Cook for a few minutes to thicken.  Add sage, salt and pepper.
7. Pour béchamel over shells.  Top with extra grated Parmesan.  Bake at 350*F for forty minutes.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!