This week in enLIGHTen, it’s all about orange foods.
When first thinking of orange foods, the only thing I could think of was the fruit. After some recipe searching, I discovered butternut squash.
Butternut squash tastes SO GOOD and it’s SO GOOD for you!!!
Butternut squash is loaded with fiber, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C and lots ofvitamin A. It also has folate which is essential for pregnant women (no, I’m NOT pregnant mom!). I love eating food that’s tasty and packed with nutrients. Therefore, I’ve researched articles like crazy to find some delicious butternut squash recipes. I think my favorite was Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage & Pine Nuts which I adapted from the Tart Tart blog.
This pasta was flavorful & colorful. My mouth was salivating at the smell of the sage as it was cooking.
The hardest part of making this dish was trying to peel the butternut squash. I had a pretty dull peeler so it required quite a bit of muscle. If you have a sharp peeler then it shouldn’t take too long at all. I ate this for lunch and I admit that it was best fresh. The butternut squash was a little too mushy for my liking as leftovers.
I suggest getting a good parmesan cheese like parmigiano-reggiano.
Opt to buy the more expensive stuff. You’ll be amazed at how expensive cheese can get but you can use a lot less of the expensive stuff to get amazing flavor. Good cheese goes a long way and will really add a lot of dimension to this recipe. I also really liked the pine nuts since it added a little crunch. The men of my ka-tet (yes, that’s a Stephen King reference for my fellow book nerds) really liked the recipe but of course, being men, they were lacking meat. I think adding a lean pork chop seasoned with a little oil & sage would compliment this meal really well.
I hope ya’ll enjoy this flavorful, colorful and nutritious meal!
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Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage & Pine Nuts
Ingredients
1 butternut squash, about 2 pounds
1 small onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
½ cup fresh sage leaves
Enough rigatoni for 4 people (about 12 oz.)
1/3 – 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Freshly-grated parmesan
Preparation
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cut, peel, and seed the squash, then cut it into 1-inch cubes. Toss with the onion, garlic, a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.
- Mince about half of the fresh sage leaves and toss with the squash.
- Spread the mixture evenly on a large baking sheet and bake for about 50 minutes, or until squash is soft. Rotate the pan halfway through.
- About halfway through baking, make the pasta. Once it’s ready, drain thoroughly and set aside.
- A few minutes before taking the squash out of the oven, heat a couple Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet. When the oil is hot, lay in the sage leaves and heat them until they become crisp, about a minute. Remove them with a slotted spoon, lightly salt them, and crush them.
- Once the squash is ready, pour the pasta and squash mixture into the skillet and cook for a few minutes, until the pasta begins to crisp. Stir in the crumbled sage and pine nuts. Serve with parmesan on the side.
Serves 4
