Butternut Squash & Sausage Stuffed Pasta with Crispy Sage

You'll love this perfect fall meal! Creamy and sweet butternut squash, savory sausage, creamy and rich cheese, topped off with fresh sage.

Begin by prepping your butternut squash. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Cube your butternut squash into 1/2" pieces. The smaller your pieces are, the faster they'll cook.
Cut shallots roughly into 1/2" sections.
Place ingredients onto a large rimmed baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Toss to coat, and arrange them evenly on the pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until squash is very soft. Test with a fork. (If your pieces are larger it could take a couple extra minutes).
Turn oven temperature down to 350°F when done, so it's ready to bake the pasta dish.
Once done baking, add squash and shallots to a blender or food processor, along with chicken broth and cream. Blend on high until smooth.
Depending on the size of your butternut squash size, you may need to add a little more chicken broth to get this to puree smoothly. Add a little extra if your blender is having a hard time mixing it.
Once smooth, add the fresh parmesan and garlic salt, and blend again. Once smoothly blended, set aside.

Cook your pasta shells in a large pot of water, with a little salt added. Try to cook the pasta Al Dente- so the pasta so it's not mushy when you go to fill it.
Once the pasta is done, strain it and coat with a little olive oil so they don't stick together. Set aside to cool until ready to stuff.

Once the pasta is cooking, place your sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook the sausage through until browned. Then add the garlic and chopped sage. Continue cooking until fragrant, being careful not to burn the garlic. Once cooked, remove from heat and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the ricotta, fresh paremsan cheese, and garlic salt.
Once the sausage is done, add to the cheese mixture. Mix to combine.

Pour the butternut squash puree into a large baking dish (9x13" or larger works too).
Spoon the cheese/sausage mixture into the shells. Place shells into the butternut squash mixture, in the baking dish.
Top with additional fresh parmesan cheese.
Place baking dish into 350°F oven, and bake until cheese is melted.

While dish is baking, fry up your sage.
In a small pan, pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat.
Add rough chopped sage and heat until it's slightly brown, and crispy. Remove from pan and set aside until pasta dish comes out of the oven.
Once it's out, top dish with cripsy sage and serve. Be sure to scoop lots of the butternut squash puree onto every serving. Enjoy!