Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallots (Vitatas #2)

Back in October 2008 I made my first recipe with Butternut Sqaush and loved it. So when I found a Butternut Squash in this weeks Vitatas I knew I would like it. I decided not to make the same recipe and went looking for another dish.

Those of you who know me well will probably not be very surprised that it´s another pasta dish. I love pastas, so when I saw this recipe I knew I found a winner. The taste was great, although I did miss a sauce..... The added brown sugar brought out the sweet taste of the velvety squash and the shallots were cooked to perfection.

I cooked the Butternut Squash by cutting the squash in half vertically and removing the seeds and fibers with a spoon. I then placed the halves, cut sides down, in a baking dish and added water to a depth of 2 centimeters. The two halves were baked at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes until tender and could be pierced easily with a fork.

The only thing I changed about the recipe is that I quartered the shallots instead of slicing them in halves.

3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise (about 1/2 pound)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
4 ounces uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta) or fettuccine
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 475°.

Combine the squash, sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons oil, salt, pepper, and shallots in a jelly roll pan; toss well. Bake at 475° for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in sage.

While the squash mixture bakes, cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place cooked pasta in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons oil; toss well. Serve the squash mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.

Penne with Butternut Squash, Spinach and Mushrooms

Seeing all the recipes and pictures at Foodgawker, Recipemuncher and Tastespotting of beautiful looking dishes with butternut squash, an unknown vegetable to me, made me want to try and make something tasty with just that: Butternut Squash (I will refer to Butternut Squash as BS for the rest of this post, do not confuse it with Bullshit ;) ), or Kalebas as they are called here in Holland.

At Foodnetwork I found the recipe for Farfalle al Rocco, courtesy of Assagio Italian Restaurant, Portland, OR and knew this was the one, it had lots of items

Boy, did I have a hard time trying to get hold of a butternut squash.... But when I have an idea stuck in my head, I will stick with it. So I visited 3 different supermarket: no BS, I went to the Natuurwinkel (Nature Shop, that's where all the nature freaks with their grey wollen socks buy outlandish and uberhealthy things like pumpkin and so on): no BS. My last attempt was the turkish supermarket, because I knew they have a great variety of exotic foods. At last: Succes was mine: lots of BS!!

1 small butternut squash

1 pound good quality dried farfalle, preferably Italian (I used Penne, since that's what I had)

1/4 cup pure olive oil

1 pound mixed wild mushrooms, cleaned and chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 bunch spinach, cleaned, stems removed and chopped into 2-inch squares

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated fine (I used Pecorino Romano, since it was on sale)

Sea salt

Black pepper, freshly ground

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the butternut squash on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until you can easily slide a knife into the upper part of the squash. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Cut off the ends of the squash and pare away the skin. Cut the squash in half, removing the seeds. Dice the remaining flesh. Allow to cool completely.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions. In a saute pan large enough to accommodate all of the pasta, over medium-high heat, add the oil, mushrooms, butternut squash and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for several minutes until the mushrooms begin to soften. You may need to add more oil, as the mushrooms may absorb the liquid. Add the garlic and mix to combine until garlic begins to brown and the sides of the butternut squash become brown as well.

If the pasta is not finished yet, remove the saute pan from the heat and wait until the pasta is done. When the pasta is done, return the pan to high heat, quickly add the spinach and deglaze with the white wine, which will help wilt the spinach lightly. Season with salt and black pepper. Quickly drain the pasta, add it to the pan and toss to combine the ingredients, mixing in most of the grated parmesan while you are tossing. Transfer to a serving dish. Top with more grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper. Serve at once!

I don't get the American portion sizes..... This recipe is supposed to be 4 servings. Since that is way too much for me I halved the recipeand should have had 2 servings, right?? WRONG, I got 3 servings!!! O well, I won't complain since I loved this dish!

Just one question for you: I still have 2 cups of roasted and diced Butternut Squash leftover, what would you suggest I do with them?