Butternut Squash and Sage Pasta

Homemade Egg Pasta

I wanted to create a recipe that isn’t difficult to make, vegetarian and more on the richer side for holiday festivities. Whenever I attend Thanksgiving or Christmas parties, there is sometimes vegetarian dishes, but usually sides and not very hearty. I have to say, I loved this dish so much that I ate two servings in one sitting! I hope you enjoy it as well, and that it becomes a staple in your repertoire.

Ingredients

Paparadelle Pasta - Fresh or Dry, just use good quality

4 cups of cubed butternut squash

3 tbsp of unsalted butter

1 tbsp of oil (can be olive or neutral, doesn’t matter)

1/2 of yellow onion sliced

3 cloves of garlic, skins left on

1/2 tsp or more of salt

3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup of water (can use vegetable or chicken stock if you want)

pepper for seasoning

fresh sage leaves

parmesan cheese for topping

Turn oven on to 400F, and on a sheet pan place garlic, onions and cubed squash. Drizzle oil onto veggies and season with salt. Use clean hands to massage oil and salt evenly onto vegetables. Put veggies into oven and let roast for about 25 minutes, or until squash is fork tender. Let veggies cool off on stove before using (also don’t forget to peel off garlic skins AFTER roasting!)

In a food processor blend cooled squash mixture, water and cream until it is fully pureed. Taste sauce, see if it needs more salt and add in pepper. Cook paparadelle pasta according to package directions, in a separate skillet, heat 3 or 4 tablespoons of butter. Let butter melt slightly, add in 10-15 sage leaves, let them fry on low/medium heat, until crisp. Take the sage leaves out of pan and let cool on paper towel. Turn up heat slightly and put in cooked pasta. Once pasta has been coated with browned butter sauce, turn off heat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl put in a couple of spoonfuls of the butternut squash sauce and cooked pasta. Mix with tongs. The heat from the pasta will warm the sauce, check now for seasoning. Top pasta with sage leaves and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!