Butternut Squash Pasta – Back 2 Back

I love butternut squash, I personally think they have a better flavour to pumpkins but lately it’s been out of my budget to acquire more than I’d like to. So yeah, here I am always complaining about increasing food prices that you must be bored out of your wits to listen to me rant by now. ‘If it’s too pricey, heck don’t buy it…’ well, you’re right but rather than indulge in that statement and why I chose to buy ONE squash anyway…I’ll leave you with this picture and you decide for yourselves whether or not the world is facing a price-control crisis….

I have a deep love for butternut, mainly because when my son was starting on solids, I made a lot of pureed food with this ingredient. Of course along the way I made dishes that were more suited for adults. But I’ve kinda slowed down buying this squash, one because of the price and two, the shops don’t seem to carry these as much as they used to. Even during Halloween period where there should be an abundant of squashes…I couldn’t get my hands on a single butternut. But during the Christmas frenzy I thought ‘What the heck…’ I should be indulging. And it’s relatively a vegetable….not some sinful, heart-clogging, protein.

I also love taking ingredient portraitures….and the squash is a beautiful subject. I sometimes try to eat more colours when it comes to vegetables because I read somewhere that the vibrant ones are the most healthy.

So I’m stretching one butternut squash to two recipes. This first one is a real favourite, and how I did it is pretty simple and direct. Place everything on a tray to roast, when it’s ready, pureed it and fold it with some cooked pasta. The bacon is there to add some saltiness because butternuts are rather sweet.

This dish is great for kids too!! When everything is pureed, they don’t really know how to complain what’s inside. If they do, just tell them it’s cheddar cheese. 😛

Prepping the squash….

From left to right; Ready for roasting; don’t be alarmed if they
look as though they’ve had a paper-shredder accident, I was poking and
probing it with my fork to check it’s doneness; pureed

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PASTA RECIPE

Ingredients;

Half a butternut squash, then quartered to four
1 big onion, chopped into chunks)
Garlic cloves (I’m a freak, I put 7)
Salt
Black Pepper
Paprika
Water/ Stock
Pasta of your choice
4 rashers of bacon
Grated parmesan
Olive oil

Steps;

1. Prep the squash accrodingly, don’t bother to peel. Put the quartered slices on a roasting tray and scatter the onions and garlic all around it.
2. Drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Toss with your hands and arrange it back as shown.
3. Roast in a pre-heated oven of 200 degrees Celsius for 45 mins to an hour (poke the squash with a fork, if it’s soft enough, it’s ready).
4. When it’s cool enough to handle, scrape off the squash flesh from the skin. Put everything, including the roasted onions and garlic (without the skin) into a blender and blitz with a little water or stock till you have a thick puree. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
5. Cook your preferred pasta and crisp up sliced bacon rashers in a pan. Drain the pasta leaving a little of the pasta water. Quickly toss in the puree while it’s still hot and coat all the pasta with the puree.
6. Dish with bacon crisps on top and grated parmesan.
7. Eat while it’s still hot.

Enjoy!

Back 2 Back with Curried Butternut Squash Soup