Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

Butternut Squash Pasta Bake provides cheesy pasta goodness while still being fairly light. Roasted butternut squash gets puréed with garlic and milk to serve as the basis for a healthy baked pasta recipe. Serve as a vegetarian main dish or a hearty side.

Pasta dishes feature prominently in my comfort food repertoire, so I was eager to jump into the #SundaySupper Comfort Food Pasta Recipes event!

I’ve already rolled out some of my favorite comfort food featuring pasta for Sunday Suppers past, including this Ziti with Porcini Bolognese Sauce and Veggie Mac and Cheese Casserole. I was tempted to just share our Kale Pesto Lasagna recipe, which is some seriously good comfort food! But I decided to make something new.

Butternut squash is one of my favorite fall foods, so I decided to feature it as the start of our pasta comfort food recipe today. The resulting Butternut Squash Pasta Bake can be served a vegetarian main, or a hearty side dish.

Sure, comfort foods can tend to be on the heavier side. But our Butternut Squash Pasta Bake shows you can have comfort food goodness while keeping things relatively light. The butternut squash gets roasted for depth of flavor, then puréed with garlic and milk to get a creamy base for the pasta casserole. We use just a bit of goat cheese for that cheesy goodness that I’m pretty sure is required for comfort food. The dish gets a bit more of a fall touch with a pumpkin seed topping.

Tips for making Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

This Butternut Squash Pasta Bake is a pretty easy recipe to put together. Your first task is probably the biggest–cutting the squash in half and then getting the seeds out! Make sure you go for a large, sharp chopping knife to get the squash cut. I’ve found a good trick for getting the seeds out–use an Ice Cream Scoop, as its sharp edges can help extricate the seeds from the rest of the squash.

Once you get the squash roasting, this is pretty easy. Make sure to cook the pasta al dente when boiling it initially, as it continues cooking in the oven.

Wine Pairing for Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

We are observing Merlot month here, and have a good amount on hand. We were pleased with how a basic California Merlot paired with our Butternut Squash Pasta Bake. I would suspect a Pinot would work here, or maybe you want to go with an Italian wine. Try something fruit forward, like a Dolcetto. Or if you’re in the mood for a white wine, maybe a Soave.

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Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

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Roasted butternut squash gets puréed with garlic and milk to serve as the basis for a healthy baked pasta recipe.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 50 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 7 servings 1x
• Category: Pasta
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 medium butternut squash, cut in half, seeds removed
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp dried sage
• 2 to 3 ozs goat cheese
• Sprinkling of parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 12 ozs short pasta shape — I used whole wheat rotini

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. After cutting the squash and half and removing seeds, place the squash flesh side up on a work surface. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons olive oil over the squash, along with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Place the squash flesh side down on a baking sheet, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. When the squash is done, you should be able to easily pierce the squash with a fork. When done, set aside to cool for a few minutes.
3. Start cooking the pasta toward the end of the squash cooking time. Cook al dente following package instructions. Drain and return to the pan, and set aside briefly to finish preparing the butternut squash.
4. Place the garlic in a food processor, pulse to mince. Add the butternut squash to the food processor, purée to combine. Add the milk and dried sage, puree to combine.
5. Stir the butternut squash mixture into the pasta. Add the goat cheese, stir to combine.
6. Empty the butternut squash pasta mix into a casserole dish. Sprinkle parmesan cheese and pumpkin seeds on top.
7. Bake the butternut squash pasta 15 minutes, covered. Remove the cover and bake for another 5 minutes. After baking, take out the butternut squash pasta dish and serve. Enjoy!

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