A Vegetarian Meal!

I needed a dish tonight that didn't call for too many ingredients, and this was because our kitchen fridge went on the fritz today.  Instead of the 37 degree temp it was supposed to be, it was 52...and kept on rising throughout the day.  Luckily, we have a refrigerator in the garage, and I quickly stocked that and also filled a cooler with other items (mainly tightly sealed sauces etc).  Once the fridge was completely cleaned out, I realized that it also needed some major CLEANING which I did - scrubbing and wiping until I was satisfied.  Ewwww...this will definitely inspire me to do a deep clean on the fridge more often! 

So...as I was putting the perishables in either the garage fridge or the cooler, I thought about what recipes called for a small amount of ingredients.  The first one that came to mind was a Pasta that featured a Creamy Butternut Squash Sauce.  I bought the squash the other day knowing this was going to be a new "try" and I checked the other ingredients and score - I had them all.

I think I mentioned that one of my goal is to work with new ingredients at least once a week with a goal of trying out new foods 3-4 times a week.  I want to learn how to peel them, cut them, make them.  I am interested in the textures and tastes and intrigued by how many items are out there that I have never once tasted, let alone cooked.

Butternut squash was one of those.  Growing up, my mom made yellow squash, and I have to say, I HATED it.  She baked it and I hated it.  She put it in a cheese squash casserole and I hated it.  It's cousin the rutebaga I hated even more...so let's just say that I have never really set out incorporating root vegetables into any of my creations.

Reading this recipe made me want to try it.  My first lesson was in cutting the butternut squash.  I just can't tell you how thankful I am for the internet; I watched a video and read some different articles.  The most interesting discussion seems to be whether or not to peel the skin, so in my adventurous quest for perfection, I did both.  One of the squash I cut in half, removed the seeds, peeled and diced.  The other one I did the same but kept the skin on.  I roasted both in cubes on two separate pans for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, and I have to say that the taste really didn't matter at all.  I did realize that I had an awful lot of diced squash, so decided to use the one with the skin for the pasta sauce and the one that was peeled as simply a roasted vegetable.

Penne with Butternut Squash Cream Sauce
She adapted from Tart Reform and I adapted a bit from hers

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pasta (I used a mixture of rigatoni and rotini)
• 2 lb butternut squash  (I used one squash for the sauce and the other for a side dish)
• 1 cup half and half  - yogurt might be a viable substitute but I went with the real thing
• 1/2 cup parmesan plus more to top - you bet I used a little more on top
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (optional - I did not use any)

1. Dice squash and roast in a 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, until fork tender
2. When squash is done, transfer to a pot on the stove, add half and half, and puree with an immersion blender until smooth.  Stir in nutmeg.  (Ruh roh.  I don't have an immersion blender and wasn't even sure of what one was!)  I used an old fashioned potato masher and just got it as smooth as I could which was still creamy.
3. While the puree heats to a boil, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water, until al dente. I went ahead and stirred the parmesan cheese directly into the squash mixture and added a touch of the pasta cooking water.  I only used a little bit of the pasta cooking water b/c I knew I wasn't mixing directly with the pasta.  If you were mixing the sauce with the pasta, you would probably want to use the full 1/4 cup.  But I knew my 15 year old would want her pasta without any sauce and didn't want it to get too watery)

That's it - it's all done and was delicious.  I served the roasted diced squash (sprinkling with salt and pepper and roasting for a few extra minutes to make them crispy.  They tasted a lot like baked sweet potato fries.  Added a green salad and that made a meal!  Unfortunately, for some reason my photos did not come through on my phone.  NO IDEA of what happened, but imagine a plate of rigatoni and rotini topped with a delicious sauce made of pureed butternut squash and half and half, with a side of roasted diced butternut squash and a side salad.  Tasty, healthy and very filling.