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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

butternut-squash-pastaIngredients
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

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. 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.
  3. Mince about half of the fresh sage leaves and toss with the squash.
  4. 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.
  5. About halfway through baking, make the pasta. Once it’s ready, drain thoroughly and set aside.
  6. 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.
  7. 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