The Best Butternut Squash Pasta
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!
Servings: 4
Cost: £2 / $2.50
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
- 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!
Video
Notes
a) Pancetta - This is a key ingredient in this recipe as it helps balance out the sauce's sweetness. Whilst they do differ slightly, you can sub diced bacon if you don't have pancetta.
b) Sage - This goes beautifully with squash. Make sure it's fresh, dried won't work as well. Because you don't simmer the sauce for long, dried sage doesn't get the opportunity to infuse the sauce efficiently.
c) Seasoning - This is a fairly simple sauce, so it's important to season it well. I usually end up with around 1/4 tsp salt & close to 1/4 tsp black pepper in the sauce. Then just a good pinch on the squash before roasting and of course a heavy sprinkle of salt in the pasta water too.
d) Calories - Whole recipe divided by 4 assuming 1 tbsp olive oil to roast squash.
Nutrition
Calories: 815kcal | Carbohydrates: 111.64g | Protein: 20.76g | Fat: 34.61g | Saturated Fat: 6.289g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.837g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5.686g | Trans Fat: 0.111g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 520mg | Potassium: 1537mg | Fiber: 15.4g | Sugar: 2.51g | Vitamin A: 1458IU | Vitamin C: 29.5mg | Calcium: 222mg | Iron: 3.37mg