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Pumpkin Pasta Casserole

October 8, 2013 by Alea 16 Comments

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Pumpkin Pasta Casserole Recipe

This quick and easy recipe for Pumpkin Pasta Casserole is perfect for chilly, fall evenings.

If you are a gardener, you may only have to buy 2 ingredients to make this recipe: pasta and cheese. If you aren’t a gardener, it is still frugal as most of the produce is on sale right now.

Pumpkin Pasta Casserole

You can’t taste the pumpkin in the casserole. It adds a natural sweetness, nutrients, and color, but it takes on the other flavors of the recipe. The natural sweetness means you don’t have to add any sugar to offset the tartness of the tomatoes. My kids were at first horrified at the idea of pumpkin in a casserole. I think they were imagining the flavors of pumpkin pie and lasagna mixed together. I convinced them to try it and they loved it, but then they were disappointed that they couldn’t actually taste the pumpkin. Go figure!

I used diced tomatoes in this recipe, if you have kids that don’t like chunks of veggies in their casseroles (I’ve gone through that with all three of my kids!), you can put the diced tomatoes in the blender before creating the sauce.

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Pumpkin Pasta Casserole

You can't taste the pumpkin in the casserole. It adds a natural sweetness, nutrients, and color, but it takes on the other flavors of the recipe.
Prep Time10 minutes minutes
Cook Time30 minutes minutes
Servings - 8 servings

Ingredients 

  • 1 lb. pasta
  • 15 oz can or 1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 15 oz can or 1 3/4 cup diced tomatoes
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp oregano
  • 2 tsp thyme
  • 2 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp sage
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary
  • 1 cup cheese
  • extra sliced onions and parsley (optional)
  • Fresh veggies, as side dish

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.
  • In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices. Sprinkle in a little salt and pepper.
  • Add the drained pasta to the pasta sauce.
  • Place the pasta with sauce into the casserole dish. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the pasta. Top with extra onions and parsley.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
  • Serve Pumpkin Pasta Casserole with green onions garnish & side of veggies.

Article by Alea

Alea Milham shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home at Premeditated Leftovers. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less. Alea can be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Alea has written 52 great articles for us.
View all posts by Alea

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Filed Under: Budget Friendly Recipes, Pasta Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tagged With: Alea, pumpkin, tomatoes

Comments

  1. Samantha says

    October 8, 2013 at 7:51 pm

    What kind of cheese did you use?

    Reply
    • Alea says

      October 8, 2013 at 8:34 pm

      I used mozzarella because it is my kids’ favorite cheese, but any cheese that tastes good with Italian food will work well.

      Reply
  2. Lauren Kelly Nutrition says

    October 8, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    This looks amazing!!

    Reply
    • Alea says

      October 8, 2013 at 8:37 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  3. JoeyfromSC says

    October 9, 2013 at 4:53 am

    Looks deelish!! What type of pasta? I was thinking of using rigatoni! I love how yours looks like lasagna when sliced!

    Reply
    • Alea says

      October 9, 2013 at 11:45 am

      I usually use penne or fusilli pasta, but you can use your favorite pasta. I think rigatoni would be great.

      Reply
      • Joeyfromsc says

        October 17, 2013 at 8:12 pm

        oh ok …thank you! I think I’ll make it tonight with rigatoni.

        Reply
  4. mprom02 says

    October 9, 2013 at 8:25 am

    Have you ever added meat to this dish? I was thinking maybe ground turkey. Just curious if the spices would need to be adjusted if meat was added.

    Reply
    • Alea says

      October 9, 2013 at 11:47 am

      It is delicious with meat. It works with any meat that would taste good in spaghetti sauce. You don’t have to adjust the spices if you add meat.

      Reply
  5. Jen says

    October 20, 2013 at 8:21 pm

    This looks wonderful & is going into the dinner rotation this week. Do you drain the can of tomatoes or include the juice? Thanks

    Reply
  6. Alea says

    October 20, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    I include the juice when I use diced tomatoes from a can. When I use fresh tomatoes, I leave the skin on. I’m lazy like that. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Brenda L says

    November 4, 2013 at 10:23 pm

    I had such high hopes for this dish. It smelled amazing as it was baking. However, no one in my family liked it! I was the only one that actually ate it and it wasn’t my favorite either. At least it was very frugal so I didn’t feel as bad throwing out the leftovers.

    Reply
  8. Sarah says

    September 30, 2014 at 7:03 pm

    This looks delicious! What size casserole dish did you use?

    Reply
    • Alea of Premeditated Leftovers says

      September 30, 2014 at 7:30 pm

      I used a 12 x 9 casserole dish.

      Reply
  9. Something says

    October 9, 2014 at 3:19 pm

    Just curious… Anyone tried freezing this? I temporarily have a family of two and baking half at a time would be easier!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Mouth Party: 6 Tasty Pumpkin Spice Recipes | This is our Story says:
    September 23, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    […] Full Recipe […]

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