Pasta wrapped in a silky butternut squash sauce and tickled with a few other goodies. This is one recipe you don’t want to miss!
As one of my most loved and most popular recipes, I had to include this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’!
Preparing Butternut Squash
Butternut squash makes such a delicious pasta sauce, and today I’m going to show you the best way to make it.
To minimise prep, I like to just slice the butternut squash in half and roast it; as opposed to slicing, peeling and dicing the squash into small cubes. Sure, it takes a little longer in the oven, but does anyone enjoy peeling anything, let alone a butternut squash?!
To slice the squash you’ll want a sharp knife and sturdy chopping board. Slicing the off stem will allow you to halve the squash more easily.
Process shots: slice off stem (photo 1), start in the middle and slice down the bottom centre (photo 2), turn around and slice through the top (photo 3), squash should fall open (photo 4).
Roasted Butternut Squash
By roasting the squash we’re not only going to obviously soften it, but you’ll also allow it to release its natural sugars. The squash will lightly caramelize in the oven, which adds heaps of flavour.
Roasted Garlic
In with the squash we’re going to add a couple of cloves of garlic, mainly because it’d be rude not to (aren’t those dents just made to be filled!?) but also because roasted garlic compliments the flavour of the squash so beautifully. When you roast garlic you completely transform its flavour – it goes gorgeously sweet and nutty. No need to peel the garlic, just whack it straight inside the squash.
Process shots: add halved squash to baking tray (photo 1), scoop out seeds (photo 2), coat in olive oil, salt & pepper (photo 3), add garlic and roast (photo 4).
Creamy Butternut Squash Sauce
Once the squash has roasted, it should be buttery soft. From there, we’re going to pop the squash and roasted garlic in a blender with a couple of other goodies:
- Cream – The squash will already be naturally creamy once blended, but an extra splash of double/heavy cream helps things along 😛
- Chicken Stock – This thins out the squash to create the sauce. It also adds a baseline flavour too.
I typically use my food processor for this, which has a blend/puree option, but any sort of blender will do the trick. I’d recommend leaving the funnel open as you blend, just to allow steam to escape.
Process shots: allow squash to cool (photo 1), scoop out flesh (photo 2), add to blender with cream, stock and roasted garlic (photo 3), blitz until smooth (photo 4).
Butternut Squash Pasta
The sauce from the blender will be fairly sweet and slightly lacklustre, so to create the full sauce here’s what else we’re going to add:
- Pancetta – This adds heaps of flavour and balances out the sweetness of the sauce. Plus pancetta/bacon is a match made in heaven with butternut squash!
- Shallots – Fry these in the leftover pancetta fat to soak in that gorgeous fatty flavour.
- Parmesan – This also adds a punch of savoury flavour to the sauce.
- Sage – Butternut squash and sage go together so beautifully. Make sure it’s fresh!
- Chilli Flakes – Balances out the sweet and savoury tones of the sauce and adds a gentle kick of spice.
- Salt & Pepper – Season the sauce generously, the butternut squash needs it!
What kind of Pasta to use?
I love a long-cut pasta like Linguine, just to allow that glossy sauce to ooze in and around the noodles.
Starchy Pasta Water
The sauce will be thin enough to coat the noodles, but it will thicken fairly fast. I like to take the cooked pasta straight from the pot and place it in the sauce, just to allow the excess starchy water to bind all the fats and thin out the sauce as needed.
Process shots: add pancetta to pan (photo 1), fry until crisp then fry shallots (photo 2), stir in sauce (photo 3), add parmesan, sage, chilli flakes and s&p (photo 4), stir then add pasta (photo 5), toss to combine (photo 6).
Serving Butternut Squash Pasta
Serve up right away with any leftover sage, chilli flakes or parmesan if desired! This is pretty hearty by itself, but you could always add some Garlic Bread if you fancy.
Looking for another butternut squash pasta recipe? Check out my Brown Butter Pasta with Butternut Squash, Roasted Garlic Pumpkin Alfredo or Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese!
For another use of butternut squash check out my Butternut Squash Soup and Butternut Squash Mash!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this butternut squash pasta shall we?!
How to make Butternut Squash Pasta (Full Recipe & Video)
The Best Butternut Squash Pasta
Equipment:
- Small Baking Tray (for roasting butternut squash)
- Large Deep Pan & Wooden Spoon (for pasta sauce)
- Large Pot & Tongs (for boiling pasta)
- Food Processor/Blender (for sauce)
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Ingredients (check list):
- 14oz / 400g Linguine, or long-cut pasta of choice
- 1x 2lb/1kg whole Butternut Squash, or roughly the same weight
- 1/2 cup / 120ml Chicken Stock
- 1/2 cup / 40g freshly grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup / 60ml Heavy/Double Cream, at room temp
- 7oz / 200g Pancetta, diced
- 3 small Shallots, very finely diced (1/3cup)
- 2 large cloves of Garlic
- 1 tbsp finely diced Fresh Sage
- 1/4 tsp Chilli Flakes, or to spice preference
- Olive Oil, as needed
- Salt & Pepper, as needed
Instructions:
- Prep Squash: Slice off the firm stalk at the end, then carefully slice in half lengthways. Use a spoon to remove the seeds.
- Roast Squash: Place on a baking tray flesh-side-up. Drizzle over a good glug of olive oil then sprinkle over a generous pinch of salt & pepper. Brush or rub into the squash, then add a clove of garlic to the base of each squash. Roast in the oven at 190C/375F for 45-60mins, or until very soft and slightly caramelized.
- Blend Sauce: Once cool enough to handle, remove the garlic cloves, then scoop out all of the flesh, leaving the skins behind. Add the squash to a blender alongside chicken stock and cream. Squeeze the garlic out of the cloves and add them in too. Blend until smooth.
- Pasta: Add pasta to well-salted boiling water and cook until al dente. Don't drain.
- Fry Pancetta: Add pancetta to a large deep pan over low-medium heat and fry until crisp with the fat rendered. Add shallots and fry until soft and lightly golden.
- Pasta Sauce: Pour in the sauce then add parmesan, sage, chilli flakes and a generous pinch of salt & pepper (to taste). Give it a stir until well combined. Use your tongs to transfer the cooked pasta straight from the pot and place it into the sauce. Toss over low-medium heat until the sauce thickens and clings to the pasta. If it thickens too much, just toss in some of the leftover pasta water to thin out as needed.
- Serve: Serve up right away with any leftover parmesan/sage you might have and enjoy!
Quick 1 min demo!
Notes:
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition:
If you loved this Butternut Squash Pasta Recipe then be sure to Pin it for later! Already made it or got a question? Give me a shout in the comments and pick up your free ecookbook along the way!
45 Comments
Gina
November 17, 2023 at 5:19 pmI just made this recipe. It was very good. I did leave out the sage. I’m not a fan of it. It still had a lot of flavor. One of my favorite recipes now. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Chris Collins
November 18, 2023 at 12:45 pmThanks so much for the review, Gina! 🙂 C.
Judith M. Schulte
November 16, 2023 at 11:27 pmThis was delicious! I used hot Italian sausage and put in asparagus. Loved it!
Chris Collins
November 18, 2023 at 12:44 pmLove the additions! Thanks so much for the review 🙂 C.
Rosemarie
October 31, 2023 at 11:09 pmChris, this was absolutely delicious! It was indeed silky smooth! I roasted the squash a little longer and used a hand blender to Perfection! A little extra garlic didn’t hurt either! I have made different versions of this type of recipe and yours is the best!
Chris Collins
November 1, 2023 at 3:03 pmSo pleased to hear this went down well, Rosemarie! Thanks so much for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
Mary
October 16, 2023 at 12:44 pmMade this for girl’s night out, and it was a big success. Will make this again, and again and again.
Chris Collins
October 18, 2023 at 6:15 pmSo great to hear, Mary! Thanks so much for the review 🙂 C.
Wholly
October 16, 2023 at 9:53 amSo easy to follow and delicious! Thank you
Chris Collins
October 16, 2023 at 11:42 amThanks for the review!! 🙂 C.
Jessie
October 11, 2023 at 7:27 pmTried it and will make it again, soooo good!
Chris Collins
October 12, 2023 at 9:33 amGreat to hear, Jessie! Thanks for the review 🙂 C.
Claire
October 6, 2023 at 12:55 amFabulous! I love butternut squash and was excited to try a new recipe. This is a 12-thumbs up recipe.
Chris Collins
October 6, 2023 at 1:46 pmSo great to hear! Thanks so much for the review!! 🙂 C.
Mary L Tognazzini
February 22, 2023 at 7:34 pmA NEW FAVORITE.
Chris Collins
February 23, 2023 at 6:22 pmGreat to hear, Mary! 🙂 C.
Aileen
February 9, 2023 at 4:19 amFantastic! My husband begged me to make it again tomorrow night! Great recipe, easy prep and clean up. Pro tip – this also makes a great soup when you add plenty of stock and a little more cream.
Chris Collins
February 9, 2023 at 5:41 pmAh that’s so awesome to hear, Aileen! Thanks so much for the review 🙂 C.
Amanda
January 16, 2023 at 9:13 amI found the Parmesan kinda ruined the flavour. Was a bit overpowering and took away all the delicious flavour away from the sauce.
Amanda
January 16, 2023 at 9:15 amMay have been my mistake for not using fresh Parmesan though. Only had the packet powder Parmesan
Chris Collins
January 16, 2023 at 2:37 pmFreshly grated parmesan will make a difference 🙂
Stephanie
January 8, 2023 at 1:22 amI don’t like my own cooking ever and I LOVE this. Someone said it was time intensive but if you start before cocktail hour then it is ready to go in a few shakes at the precise time. I only used garlic and it was amazing.
Chris Collins
January 8, 2023 at 3:03 amGlad this went down well, Stephanie! 🙂
Bryan
December 18, 2022 at 2:41 amMade this tonight and it was better than expected. Used bacon and onion, it’s what was really available, and no sage. Had a very nice flavor with the garlic and red pepper flakes complimenting the squash. Will definitely do this again.
Chris Collins
December 18, 2022 at 10:26 amGreat to hear this went down well with the changes! Thanks for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
Michaëla
December 11, 2022 at 12:56 pmSo so lovely!! This is my new favourite fish
Chris Collins
December 11, 2022 at 1:37 pmSo great to hear, Michaëla! Thanks for the review 🙂 C.
Carlin King
June 20, 2023 at 5:21 pmHad to make quite a few substitutions. Used bacon and onion instead of shallot and pancetta. Also used coriander instead of sage as that was all I could fine in the store. But it was still amazing and myself and hubby loved it!
Chris Collins
June 21, 2023 at 10:31 amThanks for the review, Carlin! Great to hear this went down well 🙂 C.
J
December 4, 2022 at 7:04 pmWould this work with lentil pasta or a gluten free pasta?
Chris Collins
December 4, 2022 at 10:32 pmI imagine that’ll be fine 🙂
M.
November 6, 2022 at 6:17 amI’m afraid i had to change a couple of things because of availability but I think it was pretty close- bacon and onion instead of pancetta and shallot :-\ But the important part was the squash sauce start and it was SO GREAT! I can’t wait to make more of these recipes!
Chris Collins
November 6, 2022 at 12:25 pmSo happy to hear this went down well! Thanks so much for the review 🙂 C.
Kristy
October 25, 2022 at 2:46 amWe saw this on tik tok. It was amazing. As is we didn’t change a thing.
Chris Collins
October 26, 2022 at 3:23 pmGreat to hear, Kristy! Thanks for the review 🙂
Gracie
October 19, 2022 at 5:33 pmAbsolutely delicious! I had made some stuffed squash and had a lot of extra which had to be scooped out, and came across this looking for a way to use up the extras. Since our squash was already cooked, we sautéed garlic with the shallots instead of adding roasted to our squash puree. Next time we’ll plan ahead and include roasted garlic, because YUM. We also added mushrooms to be extra. Also next time we will add a bit of lemon juice for some brightness and acidity. Thanks so much for the tasty recipe!! All of your concoctions look so delcious – this was the first one I’ve tried after drooling over them for months and I was not disappointed!
Chris Collins
October 20, 2022 at 10:10 amSo glad to hear this went down well and worked with cooked squash! Thanks so much for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
Edward London
October 15, 2022 at 11:51 pmCame here from tick tok. Was time intensive to make but so worth it! As others have said this doesn’t have smokiness that you would have if you used bacon (if your after like a carbonara). The sage gives it that extra flavor at the end. It is super important to use fresh sage. Will make again.
Chris Collins
October 16, 2022 at 6:46 pmHey Edward! So glad this went down well 🙂 Thanks for popping back for a review! C.
Kay
October 10, 2022 at 7:16 amHey can this sauce be frozen? Thank you
Chris Collins
October 10, 2022 at 5:47 pmI’ve never frozen this sauce unfortunately, so I couldn’t say for sure!
Jorde
October 4, 2022 at 1:48 amMade this tonight, following the recipe to a tee (minus the pasta water because my roommate strained it before I could notice.
Good, but I found it a little bland. After the fact, I added some extra chili flakes and some Thyme. Gave it a little more flavour that I think it needed.
Definitely making this again with the above additions and I’ll substitute the pancetta for bacon (because of price, but also to add some smokiness).
Chris Collins
October 4, 2022 at 10:02 amGlad to hear it went down with the additions! Thanks for the review. C.
Tommy
October 2, 2022 at 9:44 amI saw this on TikTok and had to try it. I’m so glad it did! It’s AH-MAZING!!!
Chris Collins
October 2, 2022 at 6:15 pmThanks for the review, Tommy 🙂 C.