Pumpkin Rigatoni

Say you don’t like pumpkin in pasta?  Then you never had the right dish, the correct blend in which pumpkin is not easily detected, just culminates well with the other ingredients as a support boost.  It cooperatively works together with the other guys in this particular dish, making it a winning team. 

Cook this but don’t touch; warm it up the next day to get the set-in flavors that you are looking for but have not a clue just how marvelous it is until you’ve tried it for the very first time, the day after.  Many foods are this way, better the next day; and some need the next day to finish the product into a worth-while event. 

You can also make this ahead of time, layering it as you would layer lasagna, stick it in the freezer for a hurried weeknight when you need a full meal later on, when time is of the essence.  This even has zucchini, chunks.  You can put any kind of vegetable in this, as you’d like.  There is no rule to this; your preference, your choice.  Isn’t it nice to have choices. 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Over medium heat in a large heavy skillet, sautee onion in olive oil until translucent; then add garlic, carefully not to burn.  Cook the sausage with onion and garlic until brown, breaking up the sausage.  When complete, add zucchini to the sausage mixture, and cook for five minutes, stirring at times.  When finished, set this aside with a lid over it so it does not dry out; and stir it once in a while during the time that the rest of the ingredients are infused. 

In a medium-size pot, cook tomato sauce and red wine, bringing to a slight boil; turn down to simmer, also adding salt and pepper to taste, but not too much without taste-testing the sauce so that it does not get too salty, as it can easily happen.  Add Italian seasoning of basil, oregano and parsley.  Cover, simmering 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

In a large bowl, mix together ricotta cheese, mozarella and romano.  Add the eggs, pumpkin puree, salt and pepper.  Mix well with a spoon, not with a mixer, blending the eggs into the cheese batter.   

In a 9×12-inch baking dish, pour down a layer of sauce, then a layer of pasta; next, a layer of half the sausage and a layer of half the filling.  Add a second layer of the Rigatoni, then tomato sauce again; then the remaining sausage and filling.  Complete with the last layer of Rigatoni and sauce over the pasta; and layer slices of mozzarella cheese to finish it.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Let this cool for 15 minutes before serving.