Butternut Squash Pecan & Sage Pasta
A couple of weeks ago Gabe and I were browsing different food blogs in hopes of finding inspiration to re-design our website for Cooking in the Creek, and one of the blogs we stumbled across was called Love and Lemons. The people behind the blog are a husband and wife team, with the wife being the main cook and the husband as the official taste tester and programmer behind the website, which reminded us of us! While browsing their site, we found a yummy recipe for a butternut squash pasta which was perfect for the fresh butternut squash we had just gotten at the farmers market.
For this dish the whole wheat pasta is tossed in wonderful autumn flavors, with butternut squash, fresh sage, leafy greens and pecans. It’s a lovely dish for fall that satisfies your belly, but doesn’t weight you down.
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Butternut Squash Pecan & Sage Pasta
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 5 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 cups cubed butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter (or extra olive oil)
2 small shallots, sliced
1/2 cup chopped sage leaves
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 cloves of fresh garlic, finely chopped
big squeeze of fresh lemon
splash of balsamic vinegar
8-10 ounces whole wheat spaghetti or linguine (& save some pasta water)
1 bunch of kale or swiss chard, de-stemmed and chopped (or six handfuls of chopped spinach)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
grated parmesan cheese, to taste
salt & pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roast butternut squash cubes with a little olive oil, salt and pepper for about 25-30 minutes or until they’re soft and mostly cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Cook pasta in salty water until al dente and reserve at least 1 cup of the starchy pasta water.
Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and butter, then add the shallot and cook until translucent. Add the chopped sage and cook for another 30 seconds, then add the pecans, chickpeas, butternut squash cubes, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the chickpeas and squash brown a bit (but before the garlic burns).
Add a big squeeze of lemon and a good splash of balsamic and stir.
Add the cooked pasta and greens. Use tongs to gently toss the pasta with everything in the pan allowing the greens to wilt. Add pasta water to help loosen it (I used about 1/4 cup).
Add some grated parmesan at this step if you wish.
Remove from heat, then stir in the chopped parsley.
Taste and adjust seasonings and serve with extra grated cheese.
Recipe inspired by Love and Lemons.