Cheesy pumpkin baked ziti filled with hints of sage and loads of comfort.
It feels like FOREVER since I forced you to eat carbs and cheese.
I mean, a week, but still. That’s pretty much forever in dog years.
My family always does some sort of cheesy pasta situation on Christmas.
Sometimes lasagna, occasionally ravioli, very rarely alfredo.
And what better way to show how much I love you than to force our traditions on you!
Exactly. You can’t think of anything either.
To be honest, these dishes don’t usually have enough veggies for my liking. Yes, I realize it’s CHRISTMAS and so calories don’t count, but a girl still has to get her 5(-to-10)-a-day if she’s going to be her usual happy go lucky adorable self.
So I took matters into my own hands.
Not only does this baked ziti have ALL THE CHEESE, but it also has ALL THE VITAMIN A. In the world. All of it.
It’s a bit spicy, a whole lotta creamy, and a total feel-good food.
Part of this (jazz hands!) fabulousness comes from the fact that I dosed it with Silk’s new Cashewmilk. I was SO excited when I found out that Silk was coming out with this new line of dairy-free milk because cashews are super creamy and I figured this would be the ultimate LUSCIOUS.
I was right.
Not only does the Silk Cashewmilk taste totally decadent, but it is crazy low in calories, making it perfect for lightening up a meal without making it feel like a light meal. If that makes sense.
Want to try new Silk Cashewmilk for yourself? Sign up for the Silk eNewsletter and get a free coupon just for signing up! You can also give your feedback on the Silk Facebook page. And get inspired on the Silk Cashewmilk Pinterest Board!
Let’s eat.
- 1 lb rigatoni or ziti
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium shallot, diced
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp minced sage
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1½ cups Silk Unsweetened Cashewmilk
- 1 bunch of kale, leaves coarsely chopped
- 2 cups ricotta
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 8 oz mozzarella, grated
- Heat oven to 400F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions, until al dente.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the shallots, sage, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt. Saute for 3-4 minutes, or until shallots are translucent. Stir in the pumpkin and saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the milk and bring to a simmer. Stir in the kale and simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Stir in the ricotta. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Toss the pasta with the pumpkin ricotta sauce. Spread half of the pasta mixture in a 9x13-inch baking pan. Top with half of the mozzarella. Top with the remaining pasta and the rest of the mozzarella.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until cheese starts to brown and sauce is bubbling. Let cool for five minutes before serving.
 For more fabulous baked pastas, check out these:
Baked Macaroni with Tomato Sauce and Goat Cheese
Baked Eggplant Stuffed with Pasta
Sweet Potato and Spinach Pesto Lasagna Rolls
From Around the Web:
Three Cheese Baked Ziti from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
Cheesy Baked Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Eggplant from Pink Parsley
Baked Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta from Two Peas and Their Pod
Stuffed Zucchini with Lemony Pasta from Very Culinary
Brussels Sprouts Lasagna from How Sweet Eats
This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
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I want to dive right in – with a fork in each hand! 🙂
I love everything about this. Plus the pumpkin and kale mean the calories and carbs don’t count. And hooray for vitamin A!
YUM. I made a similar recipe with butternut squash last winter and ate it more times than I can count. Need this!!
Yum! Pumpkin + pasta = heaven and I love how you upped the veggie intake here! Kale is a fabulous addition!
Oh, man. WHERE has pumpkin ziti been all my life?! I feel incomplete. Soo yeah this is definitely gonna have to happen here. 🙂
I’ve never made a pumpkin sauce and now, it. is. time. This pasta looks too good! Thanks for sharing!!
I want the entire pan. And I need to try this new cashew milk! I do Silk almond milk already…
Cashew milk?! I need to try it!
Can you send a pan of this ziti to Boston? 🙂
Craving carbs right now, I bet the cashew milk is perfect in this. Looks delicious!
Looks absolutely mouthwatering! You always have such amazing ideas, and I love that first photo!
Ooooh I need to try cashew milk! And pasta + cheese = my kind of heaven
YUM. Unfortunately I am on a diet – again – not the best timing. Oh well.
I can’t wait to give this a try. I make pumpkin ravioli with sage so I can imagine how good your dish is. 🙂
I am so down to be trying your traditions! This looks amazing!
YES YES YES! This sounds awesome!! Such a fan of pumpkin and sage!
This is my ultimate comfort food!! Nothing better than a baked pasta dish this time of year!
I’m all about a cheesy pasta dish for Christmas Eve (we even do it the night before for our 7 Fish Dinner) Love all the flavors going on here AND I have extra canned pumpkin leftover from my pumpkin cinnamon roll twists going live tomorrow -score!
Oh, Joanne – my fork won’t go thru the computer screen:)
You just have no idea how much I miss carb! So please please force me!! This looks droolworthy and satisfying, Joanne.
I so love how you think – I NEED my 5 (or 10) veggies too – love how you sneaked ’em into this!
Mmm total comfort food! I’m always craving recipes like this!
I could definitely get behind a big dish of creamy, savory, vegetable-packed pasta! This may have to happen with some of my CSA kabocha squash. So good!
I’m with you and need my 5 to 10 veggies a day and this creamy pumpkin ziti looks like the perfect dish! Love the pumpkin and sage!
STOP IT. Too…much…delicious. Pumpkin and sage are like peanut butter and jelly to me – perfect complements.
Okay, whoa and what, girl! Don’t force your traditions on me–just invite me over for dinner! 😉 this look soooo delicious! I don’t know why we never have cheesy stuff at our Christmas table…sigh.
Can you believe, the doctor is making my husband go dairy-free. It’s really getting in the way of fantastic cheesy pasta dishes like this. We seem to be eating Thai stir-fries every night. Wouldn’t mind a night indulging in something like this! xx
Cashew milk? Awesome!!
Whoa! I didn’t know silk made cashew milk too! this baked ziti looks amazing – love the heavy dose of veggies in there.
Oh my goodness, yes. LET’S EAT indeed.
YUM! This has my name all over it.
This looks fabulous, Joanne! I love the flavor combination of pumpkin and sage and it seems like cashew milk would add the perfect rich nuttiness…
I want. Love that you are still throwing pumpkin out there. We always have pumpkin pie at Christmas so I’m still game! Plus how can I deny cheese and carbs?
I’ve never tried cashew milk, but this ziti sounds wonderful. I love cheesy pumpkin with pasta. 🙂
Sage compliments pumpkin so well. This dish looks so relish! I have to remember not to read your blog till after I’ve had dinner though, now I want to scrap the salad I was going to have and just make this!
I still have like ten cans of pumpkin to use up! Pumpkin pasta rules! We do pasta for Christmas too and this year we are having two Christmases. Pumpkin pasta might be in order to keep it interesting. With extra veggies of course.
This looks DELICIOUS!!!
Well, you managed to make a baked ziti look really good!!! I think baked pastas and casseroles are the hardest things to shoot . . but this one looks fabulous! and hello. . ? Unsweetened Cashewmilk, wow that’s pretty brilliant. . love it!
I love it when you cram vegetables into pasta and cheese. Removes all the guilt and I can eat as much as I want. I need to try this cashew milk. Been a fan of almond milk for a long time!
You can force me to eat pumpkin and cheese any time.
definitely better with kale – looks delicious but more likely to be boxing day than christmas day for us (someone just recently told me in astonishment she saw someone was having lasagna for christmas dinner)
This is my kind of Christmas dish! Sage with pumpkin with pasta . . . yummo!
Although we have our traditional Christmas Eve Italian Beef Stew over fried polenta and our Christmas Day Tortellini in Brodo, with Biscotti every day dipped in wine, I easily could add this to our line up! Love the new cashew nut flavor. All I drink is almond milk now, but cashew nut has to be the bomb!
Buon Natale e tu, Joanne! Wishing you a most beautiful Christmas time,
Roz
[…] Je ne résisterai jamais devant un gratin de pâtes. Comfort food for the win! […]
This sounds awesome and I think my kids would go nuts for it, too. I love pumpkin with sage! So much better than mixing it with sugar and spices in my book – well, unless it’s for dessert. 🙂
You had me at pumpkin. And again at sage. And again at ziti. But I can’t have cashew milk! Can I use regular milk in its place (because I NEED to make this)? Would I use an equal amount?
I used either whole milk or soy milk (it’s been a few weeks ago now), and it turned out great!
YES you can definitely use any kind of milk!
Can thawed, frozen spinach be used in place of the kale?
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