Butternut Squash Pasta with Cheesy Breadcrumbs
Butternut Squash Pasta with Cheesy Breadcrumbs
Thanks to a silky, creamy sauce, with a cheesy finishing crunch, this pasta will have you (and hopefully your whole fam!) singing squash's praises.
Ingredients
- 2 lb butternut squash, cubed
- 6 TBSP olive oil, divided
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup almond milk or cream
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1 lb linguine
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- Optional - 6 sage leaves
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the butternut squash cubes directly onto a baking sheet and toss well with 3 TBSP oil and 1 tsp salt. Roast for 30 minutes until squash starts to soften and brown around the edges.
- Step 2 While roasting, cook your pasta according to package directions. Drain and return cooked pasta back into the pot.
- Step 3 Meanwhile, transfer cooked squash to a food processor, add garlic, milk and then process until smooth. Add broth as necessary until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. You may need a little more or a little less stock depending on the amount of squash. Season sauce with nutmeg and pepper, then remaining 1 tsp salt, to taste. Add the sauce directly to the pasta in the pot and toss to coat.
- Step 4 For the breadcrumbs, heat remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and coat with the oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the crumbs start to brown. Stir in Parmesan cheese and remove from heat.
- Step 5 For the optional fried sage: Heat remaining olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add a few leaves at a time and cook until crisp, no more than 30 seconds. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. Season with salt and set aside.
- Step 6 Divide the pasta among 4 bowls, sprinkle with the cheesy crumbs and sage and serve immediately.
I have a backlog of recipe posts I’ve been trying to get to lately (including last night’s pork tenderloin roulade – soon!), but this recipe was so good and SO simple that I had to make time to post it for you tonight. You can be fairly certain if I’m posting something with squash that Marc had nothing to do with it – don’t ask me why, but he hates all the squash. He’s traveling tonight and tomorrow, so I was originally planning to have some impromptu “me” time and curl up a good book and some wine. But testing and posting a new squash recipe was just too tempting… and clearly the wine was in the picture no matter what, so I think I still made out okay (see below). And hey, if I post this fast enough, I might still have a chance to squeeze in a chapter – who knows!
This recipe was actually inspired by a good friend of mine who was looking for an easy weeknight meal. She shared a creamy butternut squash spaghetti she made last week (courtesy of Two Peas & their Pod) and she even got her kids to eat it! My kids were already sleeping by the time I whipped this up (and I say whipped because I mean it – so quick!) but maybe I’ll try out the leftovers on them. My sauce is a little different that Two Peas’ sauce but still so creamy and sweet. I roasted the butternut squash to give it a bit more earthy, depth of flavor (hack: you can roast it while you give the kids a bath and then prep the sauce later!) and then just threw it a food processor with the rest of the ingredients. You can go all out and add the fried sage (optional – but tots worth it!), or just sprinkle with some dried sage like I did in these photos.
I should also mention that I totally cheated and bought the squash pre-cut (don’t judge me!) but there is a super simple way to peel and cut butternut squash yourself. Just check out Gimme Some Oven’s tutorial.
Bottom line – it’s a deliciously easy weeknight recipe that won’t add any stress to your plate (or bowl, in this case) and bonus, your kids might actually like it. If you’re not sold yet, then you may as well make it and find out for yourself!
