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This Pumpkin and Pesto Cheese Stuffed Shells is for nights when you’re craving Italian, but you’re also craving fall flavors. Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with a basil pesto and ricotta cheese mixture. Then baked in a spicy pumpkin vodka sauce that’s creamy and so delicious! This is a great fall pasta to serve any night of the week, or for your next Saturday night dinner party.
Can you guys tell that I’ve entered full on comfort food mode over here?
I know it’s only October and all, but with our major snowfall this week (if you follow on Instagram you saw all the photos) I really cannot stop these comfort food cravings. When it’s cold all I want to make is butternut squash pasta, homemade curries, noodle soup, and homemade pumpkin butter.
So, all the best fall food.
I have to say, even though I think it’s WAY too early for snow, I’m loving the coziness it brings. As well as the excuse to stay warm inside all day. I swear the chill in the air, and the snow on the ground, makes cooking even more enjoyable for me. Which is nice considering that I’ve been spending almost all my time in the kitchen lately.
But then I do kind of miss the fall leaves…
Anyway, moving on to this pasta.
I was inspired to create these pumpkin stuffed shells after making this pasta last year and loving it so. This is kind of the fall version of that pasta dish, and as you can guess, it’s a new go-to for me.
This easy recipe uses a lot of pantry staple ingredients. And while it does take some time, it’s still very easy to make and comes together in just about an hour.
The details.
To start, make the spicy pumpkin vodka sauce. This is just a mix of spicy ground chicken sausage, pumpkin puree, vodka, and spices. I love using chicken sausage as it adds so much flavor. It also means you don’t have to add extra ingredients like onions and garlic to the sauce. One note, I prefer using lean chicken over pork sausage, which can be a little too greasy sometimes.
While the sauce simmers, make the stuffed shells. These are the almost too good…fresh ricotta, fontina cheese, and basil pesto, all stuffed into a pasta shell? Nothing not to love here.
Snuggle the cheese stuffed shells right into the spicy pumpkin vodka sauce, then top with mozzarella and bake until the pasta is golden and the cheese has melted.
Hello to cheesy, pumpkiny pasta perfection.
This is one of the best dishes to come out of my kitchen as of late, and that’s saying A LOT since I’ve been cooking A LOT.
I know it may seem a little odd to use pumpkin in such a savory way, but go with me on this one. It lends a creamy texture to the sauce while providing a hint of both sweetness and autumn flavors.
Just give it try. I know you guys will all love it!
Watch the How To Video:
If you make this pumpkin and pesto cheese stuffed shells please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Spicy Pumpkin and Pesto Cheese Stuffed Shells
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 1388 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 pound ground spicy Italian chicken sausage
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and pepper
- 1 pound jumbo shells
- 16 ounces (about 2 cups) whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded fontina cheese
- 3/4 cup basil pesto, homemade or store bought
- 8 ounces mozzarella, torn
- fresh basil, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish or dish of similar size.2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the chicken sausage and brown all over, about 5 to 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add the bell pepper, pumpkin, vodka, milk, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and boil the pasta until al dente according to package directions.4. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, fontina, and 1/2 cup pesto. 5. To assemble, spoon 3/4 of the pumpkin sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Working with one pasta shell at a time, spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture into each shell, placing the filled shell into the baking dish as you go. Spoon the remaining pumpkin sauce over top of the shells and then drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup pesto evenly over everything. Add the mozzarella. 6. Transfer the baking dish to the oven and bake 20-25 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is lightly browned on top. Cool 5 minutes before serving. Serve with fresh basil. Enjoy!
Notes
*If you'd like to make this vegetarian, no problem, just omit the chicken sausage and use a little more crushed red pepper flakes for heat, if you'd like.
*To make the pasta ahead, just do everything up until the final baking, cool, and store in the fridge until ready to serve!
Wow, this is an awesome spin on stuffed shells. Everybody loved it and it’s going into my fall and Winter recipe rotation. Thank you so much!
Hi there! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! ? xTieghan
Can I substitute chicken broth for the vodka?
Hey Amber,
Yes, that will work well for you! I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
I have to preface my review by saying that we are not huge pumpkin fans, so I was skeptical about this recipe. BUT, my husband and I were drooling over your gorgeous photos, so we took a chance. WOW! It was creamy, spicy, cheesy — and OH SO good!! The pesto was an amazing flavor bomb! I made this a few weeks ago for dinner, and we enjoyed it that night, but I spilt the quantity in half to freeze some. We let it thaw yesterday and reheated in the oven according to your directions — PERFECTION! We will definitely be having this one again, Tieghan. Thanks so much for expanding our food horizons!!
Hey Alexis,
Thanks a lot for giving the recipe a go, I am so delighted that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) xTieghan
This is top 3 favorite of your recipes, Tieghan! We made this multiple times last year and are making it again this year.
My dad is a super picky eater, mom isn’t a pumpkin fan but they absolutely love this! Don’t be afraid to try even if you don’t like pumpkin.
The spicy ground chicken sausage, I can only find at Whole Foods so I sometimes substitute it with regular ground chicken which still works fine. 10/10 recommend this recipe. It will always be a staple fall dish in our house. 🙂
Hi there! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I hope you enjoyed it! Happy Weekend 🙂 xTieghan
This was amazing! Don’t hesitate to try it, even if you think someone doesn’t like pumpkin, or any of the ingredients! It was met with rave reviews, including half of the taste testers who do NOT like pumpkin! a delicious, homey dish that is still fancy enough for company.
my tips: do NOT skip the fontina. this gives it that unique, rich flavor and the most luxurious creaminess. I found the 1 lb. of shells made extra, so don’t stress if you don’t have enough pasta. since this only uses part of a can of pumpkin, don’t hesitate to freeze the remainder and save it for the next time you want to make this tasty treat 🙂
Hey Caroline,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe. I am so glad you enjoyed! xTieghan
LOVE!!! I made this dish for my anniversary dinner and it was better than anything we could have gotten at a restaurant!! Omg! So good! Served with fresh roasted broccoli and garlic bread. All the flavor combos and textures… Amazing. Due to the pandemic, I couldn’t find jumbo shells anywhere! Who knew those were so popular!? So I made it into a lasagna instead! I also doubled the pumpkin and added a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon… Bomb! Flavor explosion! Just made it again with the shells and it’s amazing. Feeling extra bougie, and made the chicken sausage, the pesto, and the pumpkin from scratch. Couldn’t find fontina cheese so just used a creamy havarti instead. Truly something to be proud of. I’ll keep this recipe forever! Thank you!
Hey Rachael,
Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad the pasta was enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I’ve made this recipe twice now and I love it so much!
Thank you so much Jenna! xTieghan
We made this for our vegetarian main on Thanksgiving. Since we weren’t using the chicken sausage I added some extra seasoning. This recipe was very delicious and fairly easy to make. My only complaint is I wish there was more sauce! Maybe this isn’t an issue if you are using the sausage. If you are making this vegetarian I would scale the sauce up to use a whole 15 oz can of pumpkin puree. Honestly the pumpkin got a little lost in the whole dish.
Thank you os much Jackie! I am glad this turned out well for you! xTieghan
This is delicious! Very rich flavor. Unfortunately I didn’t feel like the leftovers heated up that well (I just did microwave). Overall a great fall pasta!
Thank you so much Lily! xTieghan
I’ve been wanting to make this all season long. I went to four grocery stores today but couldn’t find shells! Can you sub rigatoni for jumbo shells? How would you recommend altering this recipe for that substitution?
Hey Katherine,
I would actually use lasagna sheets and just spread the mixture on them and roll them up. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I am going to make this ahead of time and refrigerate over night. How much longer do you recommend baking it for?
Hey Casey,
I would add about 15 minutes to the baking time. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These are awesome. I’ve made once with crushed tomatoes added and once just as directed, and both both times were amazing. I’m a huge advocate for making your own pesto and pumpkin purée, but I’m sure it’s still super delicious otherwise. Oh, and I have to add garlic to pretty much everything, but man, oh man. This is good stuff. Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you Kat!! I am really glad this recipe turned out so amazing for you! xTieghan
I am so pumped (no pun intended haha) to make this tonight but went to three stores and couldn’t find jumbo shells. I’m going to just sub large rigatoni and do kind of a modified baked rigatoni. Who knew shells would be hard to find? Can’t wait to try it!
Haha love that you are excited to make this one! I hope it turns out amazing for you, Ashley! Thank you so much! xTieghan
This recipe was delicious 🙂 The pumpkin flavour was not overwhelming at all but definitely added to the amazing flavors in this dish. I did make a few changes:
– couldn’t find spicy Italian chicken sausage so I used ground chicken and seasoned with paprika, chilli flakes and garlic powder.
– couldn’t find fontina cheese so I used gruyere instead
– didn’t have vodka on hand so I subbed with chicken stock
– used half the amount of mozzarella as some of the comments mentioned the dish was really cheesy (no pun intended!)
Overall my husband and friends said the dish was amazing and one of my friends doesn’t even like pumpkin! The sauce is really delicious so when I make this dish again I will probably increase the sauce a bit. However, by no means was there not enough sauce based on the recipe! Definitely adding this recipe to the fall roster 🙂 thanks for sharing!!
Hi RJ! I am so happy this recipe turned out so well for you all! Thank you so much for trying it!! xTieghan
Where can I find chicken sausage? I’ve checked sprouts, traders and Albertsons
Hey Jessica,
I get mine from Whole Foods. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I made this vegetarian using Morningstar Farms brand veggie Italian Sausage style crumbles (frozen section) – it worked well! I used the 10 oz whole bag. They don’t need to be cooked as long as real sausage so I shortened that step but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly.
Amazing! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you, Anna! xTieghan