Pasta with {Slightly Skinny} Butternut Parmesan Sauce

A few months ago I was given a few butternut squashes (Is "squashes" correct? Or would that be "squash"? As in "deer"...or "fish"...or "moose"? I give up) from a relative that grows them in her garden- how fun is that- home-grown squash! Lovely, rich, smooth, gorgeously golden squash! 

As you can imagine, I was more than happy to accept her offer of a few to take home and have been on the hunt ever since for something to do with it other than soup (although I absolutely adore butternut squash soup and have tried several delicious recipes!). Recently I came across this pasta sauce recipe on Pinterest (of course) and decided to give it a whirl!

This sauce is really very simple to prepare. The only time consuming part is baking the squash, which could easily be done ahead of time. You can even make large batches of squash puree and freeze them in 3 cup amounts to have on hand when you need a quick go-to sauce for a weeknight meal! How easy would that be?? 

And, as usual, the squash does not disappoint. It is smooth and nutty as always, and combined with the flavors of sage and Parmesan, it makes a delicious addition to your favorite pasta.

Oh, and that amazing side dish you see in the picture? The one with the almonds? And more Parmesan? That's my sis-in-love's fantabulous roasted zucchini that ever since this summer has been my absolute favorite way to eat zucchini. I could seriously eat a whole bowl of THAT for dinner. Oh, now you want the recipe? Well, you're in luck! It just so happens I  know the lady who wrote a blog post about that... ;) You can thank me later.

Pasta with Butternut Parmesan Sauce

(printable version)

slightly adapted from Good Life Good Eats

serves 6

1 butternut squash (about 2 1/2 lb.- if using pre-made puree, this takes about 3 cups)

12 oz. penne pasta (or other favorite!)

1 TB olive oil

1 shallot, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup skim milk

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground sage (or use 1 TB fresh!)

1 tsp parsley (or 1 TB fresh! If using fresh parsley, add with lemon juice at the end of cooking)

2 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

broth or water as needed to thin sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the squash lengthwise in half (see here for an easy way to do this!) and scoop out strings and seeds. Place squash cut sides down in a glass baking dish and add 1/4 cup water. Bake about 40 min. or until easily pierced with a fork. Cool 10 minutes, then scoop flesh from skins. Puree squash in a blender or food processor or using a stick blender until smooth.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, make sauce. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a wide skillet. 

Add shallots and cook about 5 min., or until soft and translucent. 

Add squash puree and cook about another minute, stirring to combine. 

Add milk a little at a time, stirring continuously to incorporate.  

Stir in cheese and spices. If needed, add water or broth to thin the sauce to your liking. When sauce is hot, remove from heat and stir in lemon juice (and fresh parsley, if using). 

Serve over hot pasta with extra cheese and herbs if desired.

Easy Butternut Squash Shells and Cheese

Do you remember last year when that one amazing soup totally sent me on butternut squash kick for awhile?

Welllll...I think it's started again. There is just something so irresistible to me about that creamy orange, mildly flavored squash. And when you pair it with ooey gooey cheese? Don't even get me started.

This recipe is no exception. It is very similar in flavor and texture to the awesomely delicious pumpkin macaroni and cheese and fairly easy to prepare. Tackling the squash is, as always, the most difficult part. You'll need a good sharp knife and some elbow grease to slice your way through the tough skin and firm flesh- but it's definitely worth it!

Easy Butternut Squash Shells and Cheese

(printable version)

by How Sweet It Is

serves about 6

3 cups uncooked whole wheat pasta shells

4 cups cubed uncooked butternut squash (about 1 medium)- peeled and seeds removed

2 TB olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups milk

6 oz. shredded cheese (I used Gruyere- fontina was recommended)

4 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese

2 TB brown butter (for "how-to" click here)

2 TB fine bread crumbs

chopped fresh herbs for garnish (I used sage)

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare water for pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain.

While pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over med-low heat. Add oil, then toss in squash with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add stock and cover skillet, cooking for 15-20 min., stirring occasionally, until squash is soft and can be easily mashed. Remove cover and reduce heat to low. Mash squash with a potato masher or fork, smoothing it out with a spoon to remove all the chunks.

Add in milk, 4 oz. of the Gruyere or fontina and all of the Parmesan, stirring until melted and smooth, about 5 min. If needed, add more milk a little at a time, stirring until smooth. Stir in brown butter, again mixing for a minute or so until incorporated. Taste and add more seasoning, if desired.

Fold shells into the sauce, coating completely. If not using an oven safe skillet, transfer shells to a casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs and bake for 15 min. If a bubbly, golden topping is desired, broil 1-2 min. after cooking. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve!

Spiraled Squash and Potato Bake

Don't you just love yummy beautiful food? Some foods taste delicious and look awful, and sometimes foods don't live up to their looks in the taste department. This pretty dish, however, is a winner on both counts. It looks lovely, veggies curled in a lovely spiral, and tastes fabulous as well.

The idea for this side dish has been floating around Pinterest for awhile, and I think it's actually called a "tian" or something like that, and includes tomatoes. I used golden potatoes, zucchini, and yellow crook neck squash in my version, but I have a feeling experiments involving summer squash, sweet potatoes, red potatoes and/or tomatoes, would be awesome!

Spiraled Squash and Potato Bake

(printable version)

serves about 4 as a side

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 of a med. yellow onion, diced

about 2 golden potatoes, sliced thin

about 1 med. zucchini, sliced

about 1 yellow squash, sliced

shredded Parmesan cheese

olive oil

thyme

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over med. heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until fragrant and transparent, a few minutes.

Lightly grease a pie pan or other round dish. Spread onion and garlic mixture on bottom of pan.

Arrange vegetables in pan, layering in a fairly tight spiral, alternating potatoes and squash. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme, and cover with foil. Bake about 35 min.

Remove foil and sprinkle with Parmesan. Return to oven and bake another 25-30 min. or until browned and potatoes are tender.

Roasted Butternut & Sweet Potato Lasagna

Oh dear. This is my third post about butternut squash in what, 2 weeks? I think I'm in love. It just keeps getting better. First, this incredible soup. Then, it turned traditional pizza on its head. Now...it has invaded the comfortable world of lasagna.

And I love it even more for the intrusion. Not long ago, I wouldn't have dared put a vegetable in my lasagna (besides tomato sauce), but this delectable yellow gourd has turned a lot of my preconceived notions about vegetables and meatless dinner upside down. Even my husband has been blown away by how delicious and filling a meatless entree can be. I'm begging you as a friend to please, please put all your inhibitions aside and make this lasagna. Okay. Now that I've reduced myself to pleading, let's proceed to the "how" of this culinary adventure.
Begin by peeling and dicing a butternut squash and one or two sweet potatoes or yams. Side note: this is not an expensive dish. I purchased a medium sized squash for only a little over $3 and it played a starring role in 3 dinners, plus leftovers! You want to end up with 3 1/2 to 4 cups altogether. Spread them on a baking sheet and drizzle with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper; toss to coat.

 Roast in the oven until they are slightly crispy and soft enough to poke a fork through.

While the squash is roasting, you can get to work on the cheese filling. The first step in the filling is to cook onions (or shallots) and garlic in brown butter. I didn't have any shallots, so I substituted some sweet onion, which seemed to work fine.

If you haven't browned butter before, you'll find a tutorial here.
The original recipe also called for mascarpone cheese, which sounds amazing, but which I could not find, even at our local Safeway. So, if you can't find it in your area either, you'll find a substitute recipe below. It was delicious. Combine the browned butter, onions and garlic with the mascarpone (or masquerading mascarpone- say that 10 times fast!) and add Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
When the squash and potatoes are done, transfer them to a bowl and mash until smooth with a pastry blender. I whipped them up even creamier with an electric mixer.

Now, you're finally ready to layer!

Some of the comments on the blog I found this recipe on complained that the bottom noodles were crispy, so it was recommended that you put a bit of the squash on the bottom of the pan first- which I did (and it turned out perfect).

Cover that with lasagna noodles. I discovered oven-ready lasagna noodles for the first time on our last shopping trip and had to try them. I must say, I am impressed. They turned out perfectly, no pre-cooking required! Squash mixture goes on top of that, followed by the cheese filling.

Sprinkle a bit more cheese on that, then repeat! This is probably the easiest part of the whole ordeal. :)

Pop it in the oven and wait for delicious aromas to start pouring forth. They will.
Usually you can be fairly alerted to the presence of a tasty meal by the smell. And this dish is no exception whatsoever. I knew I had hit on something good when my husband kept coming in the kitchen, sniffing and saying things like, "Boy, that smells amazing!" It did. We could hardly wait for the pan to come out of the oven and cool long enough to slice. Hubby, hovering, says, "Can we eat it yet?" Good things come to those who wait.
There are so many flavors packed into this hearty dish I don't even know where to start. Which is why, I beg you, please make it for yourself! One thing we remarked to each other as we were eating (pulling our mouths away from our forks long enough to speak was pretty remarkable, come to think of it) was that you could distinguish each separate flavor as you were eating. Squash, smooth and rich. Then tangy and creamy cheese. Nutmeg, aromatic and spicy. Fragrant and pungent garlic. A hint of mellow sweet potato. It was all there. Together, but somehow...separate. Each bite was packed with alternately bursting and mellowing flavors. What an experience! In the words of the blogger who drew me in: "It's like eating a giant plate of autumn." I couldn't have said it better myself.

"I know that this mess of cheesy squash doesn’t look like much, but I gotta tell you that it’s probably the most visually underrated dish I have ever made." - How Sweet It Is blog

Roasted Butternut & Sweet Potato Lasagna
(printable version)

adapted from "How Sweet It Is"

serves 4-6 as main dish

enough lasagna sheets (preferably no-boil) to cover 8x8 pan twice (I used 4 Ronzoni oven-ready sheets)

1/3-1/2 of a medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 2 cups)

1-2 medium sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cubed (about 1 1/2 cups)

12 oz. mascarpone cheese or substitute (see recipe below)

3 TB butter

1/4 cup finely diced onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

olive oil for drizzling, about 2 tsp.

In shallow baking pan, drizzle squash and potatoes with oil, sprinkle with half the salt and half the pepper and the nutmeg; toss to coat. Roast at 350 for 40-50 min. or until soft and slightly crispy. Cool slightly.

Meanwhile, heat skillet to medium, add butter, onion and garlic. Saute 2-3 min. or until butter is browned, but not burned and onions and garlic are fragrant and transparent. Cool slightly. Combine mascarpone with onions, garlic and butter. Stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan.

Mash squash and potatoes until smooth and spreadable. Grease 8x8 in. pan. Coat bottom of pan with small amount of squash mixture. Top with lasagna noodles. Coat with half of remaining squash mixture, followed by half of the cheese mixture. Top this with half of the remaining Parmesan and half the mozzarella. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Bake in 350 oven for 45 min or until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

Mascarpone cheese substitute:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half cream

2 1/2 TB sour cream

Mix all together until smooth and creamy.

Sources: How Sweet It Is

Simply Recipes

Food.com

Butternut Squash Pizza with Chicken and Caramelized Onions

For the last few weeks, our Friday pizza nights have been the same. Pepperoni with olives. Nothing wrong with that combo- but...a little boring after awhile. I had two motives to try something out of the ordinary. 1) I was bored with plain old pepperoni and 2) I had some butternut squash in the fridge begging to be made into something delectable. As I was looking through recipes containing the sweet orange gourd, I happened upon the suggestion of pizza. Squash on pizza? Sounds a little strange. But so many people in various corners of the world wide web were raving about it, so I thought it couldn't be all bad. And after my recent soup experience, I was ready to have an open mind toward this glorious vegetable (or is it a fruit?). I searched for awhile, looking for the perfect combination of ingredients I currently possessed and ingredients that sounded appetizing together. Nothing really fit the bill, so I finally decided to make up my own combo. And, boy, it was a winner, if I do say so myself!

I decided to top a thick and chewy crust with a white, almost Alfredo type sauce, then layer on roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, chicken, and mozzarella cheese.
This was definitely a much more involved pizza than I'm used to. There were a lot of steps, but, like the soup, it would be well worth it once in awhile.
 The thin, whole wheat crust I usually make is a jiffy, and doesn't require any rising time, so the pizza is usually together in under 30 min. However, for this masterpiece, I decided to try a more traditional, thicker crust, and used Paula Deen's "Basic Pizza Crust"- it was absolutely delicious! But, it required 45 min of rise time, so I got to work on that.
Meanwhile, I also started the squash roasting. I cut it into 1 in. chunks, tossed them in olive oil (the chunks amounted to a little over a cup) and roasted them on a baking sheet at 450 for 20 min.
While the squash was roasting, I started the onions doing their beautiful thing in a shallow pan on the stove top. They sizzled away for a good 30 min in hot butter and a little olive oil, releasing their natural sugars to make a beautifully brown, sweet pan of deliciousness. Even if you are not a fan of onions in general, I urge you to try caramelizing them. They are simply transformed! The harsh, pungent, tangy onion becomes a mellow, sweet, slightly crispy delectable addition to pizzas, sandwiches, burgers, omelets, etc!
While the dough was rising, the squash was roasting, and the onions were caramelizing (this is beginning to sound like a Dr. Seuss book!) I got the white sauce going. Most meals I make (and certainly not pizza) don't have this many "irons in the fire" as it were, but I thought it was sort of fun thing to do on a cold, quiet afternoon.
Anyhow, I simply made up the white sauce in my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (the cheese version- using Parmesan cheese), cutting all of the amounts in half. It still made enough to cover two pizzas (the dough also makes enough for two pizzas, so I froze one half of it).
Once the dough had done it's thing, I stretched it out and topped it with the sauce, the squash, the onions, some cubed chicken, and then sprinkled it with cheese (I used a pizza blend containing mozzarella, cheddar and provolone). I really wished I had access to ricotta or feta or something a little more fun, but alas! our little market did not have it. Then I popped the whole thing in the fridge.

When I baked it later, I wanted to try out the new pizza stone my brother and sister-in-law (cooks and fellow bloggers themselves!) gave me for my birthday, but was sadly disappointed when my pizza stubbornly refused to slide off the pizza pan and onto the heated stone. I pulled and tried spatulas, but to no avail. I think I shall have to invest in the famed "pizza peel" or else try freezing the pizza first for easier transportation. However, the pizza baked up beautifully on the pizza pan, and it was delicious!

Disappearing fast...

We ate almost the whole pizza between the two of us, and thoroughly enjoyed the delightful co-mingled unusual flavors. On the whole the flavors were very understated, with the simple white sauce a perfect back drop for the sweet and mellow squash and onion. What a great discovery!

Butternut Squash Pizza with Chicken and Caramelized Onions
(printable version)

a KitchenJoy original recipe (with help)

Makes 1 12-14 in. pizza

pizza dough of your choice

1/2 recipe white sauce (recipe follows)

1-1 1/2 cups cubed peeled butternut squash, roasted

1/2-1 cup diced cooked chicken breast

1 medium onion, sliced and caramelized

1/2 cup or so cheese of choice

Spread pizza dough in pan. Cover with white sauce. Top with squash, chicken and onions. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake according to dough directions.

White Sauce (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

Makes enough for 2 12in. pizzas

1 TB butter

1 TB flour

dash salt

dash pepper

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Melt butter on stove top. Whisk in flour, salt, and pepper; heat till smooth and bubbly. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling; boil 1 min or until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted and smooth. 

Source for dough: Foodnetwork.com

Butternut Squash & Carrot Soup

Here I am with another soup recipe! Yesterday (Wednesday, my "soup day") I decided to step a bit outside of my comfort zone and my usual routine.

I almost strictly adhere to my crock-pot on Wednesdays, as I don't usually have much time to attend to the kitchen and I need something that can keep for awhile if we get detained at our Kid's Club, Awana (which we don't mind and which usually happens! :). But, after musing on it for awhile, the adventure of trying a squash soup became appealing to me. I have never tried any sort of squash soup before, but last fall and winter, my foray into the world of acorn, spaghetti, and butternut squash (and of course, pumpkin!) convinced me that my former preconceived ideas about squash were likely all wrong. Now I can add squash soup to that list of things I was wrong about! Usually, I hate to be wrong. But when being wrong comes in such a delightful package as a warm, tasty, spicy-sweet (not to mention, healthy!) soup, I can much more cheerfully accept it!
This soup was a bit more work than most soups I make, but once in awhile it would be well worth the effort. Butternut squash is a very versatile squash, being tasty roasted, pureed, grilled, or even microwaved, if you're short on time. It is rather sweet and nutty, very similar in flavor to pumpkin.

Orange seems to be the color of the day

I think if you cooked and mashed it, it could probably be substituted for pumpkin in any recipe. It is also extremely healthy! It is an excellent source of both vitamins A and E, as well as fiber, even making the list of the 10 best foods as compiled by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (right up there with salmon and sweet potatoes)! This delicious, creamy soup also weighs in at a mere 150 calories or less per serving!
The first step is to slice the squash in half and remove the seeds and stringy stuff inside.

Hang onto those valuable little seeds!

But wait! Don't throw those seeds away! Separate them from the strings and wash and dry them to use later. Next you peel the squash, which I accomplished with my vegetable peeler, although I'm not sure it was the best method. After peeling, I diced it into about 1 in. cubes. The recipe called for 3 cups and my squash was about a medium size, so I only ended up needing half of it (which actually amounted to almost 4 cups, but I put the extra in anyway). I'm still dreaming about what to do with the other half. After cubing the squash, as well as slicing up carrots and dicing some sweet onion, I put it all in a big saucepan and sauteed it in butter for about 10 min.

Once the onions were transparent and soft, I added the chicken broth and simmered until everything was tender. After this step, and letting it slightly cool, the recipe called for pureeing everything in batches in a blender. But if you posses the awesome little tool called an immersion blender, I highly recommend you use it here. It is so easy and works like a dream! I use mine quite often- they work very well for blending soups and sauces, as well as dressings and gravy. I simply put the whole pot in the sink (to avoid splatter) and blended everything until almost completely smooth.

See how easy that is? Christmas is coming...

Once smooth and creamy, I stirred in nutmeg, pepper and half and half. Then came the taste test. Mmmm. I couldn't stop dipping my spoon into that beautiful golden-orange soup! It was heavenly! A perfect marriage of sweetness and spice, all wrapped up in a creamy, smooth goodness that slides so warmly down your throat. Tastes (and looks!) like Autumn in a bowl.

I made our soup ahead of time and found it worked well to refrigerate it, then warm it up on low in the crock-pot for 2-3 hours. We had it as a main dish, but if you don't want to go vegetarian (or almost vegetarian, due to the chicken broth) it would also work well as a side or starter to a meatier entree. I served it with an olive and cheese bread from the Brown Eyed Baker's blog.

The bread was beautiful and very tasty, but a little bit too eggy and tasted a little too much like olive oil for my preference. Might be better toasted, or with melted butter or another oil subbed for the olive oil. I love olive oil, but it was just a bit too overpowering for me.

Oh, remember those seeds you saved? Once they are dry, put them on a baking sheet and toast them at 375 for 10-15 minutes (watch closely so they don't burn!) and you have a perfect topping for your soup- no waste here!

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup
(printable version)

from the Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book

serves 4 as a main dish, 6 as a side

3-4 cups peeled, diced butternut squash

2 cups thinly sliced carrot

3/4 cup thinly sliced leek or chopped onion

1 TB butter

2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup half and half

toasted squash or pumpkin seeds for garnish

In a large saucepan, cook squash, carrot and onion in hot butter over medium heat for 8 min., stirring occasionally. Add broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 25-35 min, or until tender. Cool slightly.

Place one-third of the mixture in blender and process until nearly smooth. Repeat with remaining (or here is where you can simply employ your handy-dandy immersion blender!). Return all to saucepan. Add pepper and nutmeg, bring just to boiling. Add half and half; heat through. Garnish each serving with seeds if desired.