acorn squash pasta

Roasted Acorn Squash Pasta, with plenty of roasted garlic, gets a healthy creamy texture from the squash. Delicious vegetarian recipe to serve in the fall! Adapted from a recipe in the cookbook <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558321144/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1558321144&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=davbcro-20&amp;linkId=45e409aa1d58618a98d1851116c43759" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Vegetarian Planet</a>.

Creamy Roasted Acorn Squash Pasta

acorn squash

garlic (and a bit extra if you like — see notes)

ozs ziti or penne pasta

dry white wine

tbsp extra virgin olive oil

cooking water from the pasta (you may not need it all)

milk

Pecorino Romano cheese,

tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

salt and pepper

silken tofu (optional)

Prep the squash: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half, and lay them flesh side up. Scoop out the seeds &#8212; I like to use an ice cream scooper. Sprinkle 1 tsp of the oil over the squash flesh. Place the squash flesh side down on a baking sheet and place in the oven.

Prep the garlic

 Cut the root end off the head of garlic, exposing the bottom of the garlic cloves. Drizzle exposed cloves with 1 tsp of the olive oil. Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil, place on the baking sheet next to the squash in the oven.

Roast the squash and garlic: 

The squash and the garlic will both take about 40 minutes to roast. After 40 minutes, remove the baking sheet to check for doneness. The squash is done when the skin pierces easily with a fork. If it does, turn the squash over &#8212; when roasted the flesh should be soft and beginning to brown. The garlic is done when the cloves have become quite soft and beginning to brown. If they are done, remove the squash and garlic and set aside to cool; or return to roast for another 5 minutes or so as needed.

Start the water for pasta

Start boiling a large pot of water for cooking the pasta with about 10 minutes roasting time left. Add the pasta after you&#8217;ve started cooking the sauce on the stovetop.

Start making the sauce

 Place the white wine and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet or medium sauce pan (see notes). Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin and into the sauce pan. Heat the garlic on medium, then add the roasted squash flesh, and the tofu if you are using it. Stir to combine, and cook on medium low. Stir every few minutes.

Cook pasta

 Add the pasta to the boiling water after adding the squash to the sauce pan. Cook according to package directions as you finish the sauce.

Finish the sauce

Add the milk to the sauce, stir to combine. After the pasta has been cooking for at least 5 minutes, scoop out 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water. Pour some of the pasta water into the sauce, stir to combine. Add up to 1/2 cup of the cooking water to the sauce to achieve desired consistency. This is a fairly thick sauce but you want it to have enough liquid to combine well with the pasta. Keep the sauce warm as the pasta finishes cooking.

Finish the dish

When the pasta is cooked, drain, and toss immediately with the acorn squash sauce. Add the cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and parsley. Plate the pasta, and pass additional cheese at the table. Enjoy!

This sounds like the perfect autumnal dish. It looks delicious and my whole family would love it.

This looks so perfect for Fall! I can't wait to make this for my family, I know they will love it!

I only had butternut squash and Hokkaido pumpkin pasta before. I was wondering how different would acorn squash taste like.

What a great way to use acorn squash! Sounds delicious!

I love pasta and I love garlic. Combine them together and you will receive TWO hearts from me which equals 5 stars or more! :-) Fabulous recipe that is such a great weeknight meal. Can't wait to try it with a glass of my favorite wine!

Incredible brown butter acorn squash pasta tossed with toasted hazelnuts, sage, and a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan. This wonderful pasta dish has a sweet &amp; savory acorn squash sauce and is the perfect comfort food for fall and winter!

Brown Butter Acorn Squash Pasta with Toasted Hazelnuts + Sage

milk (I use unsweetened almondmilk),

brown sugar or pure maple syrup

cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)

nutmeg

raw hazelnuts, chopped

salted butter (yes, salted!)

spaghetti (or sub pasta of choice, even GF!)

garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

To garnish:

sages leaves, cut into chiffonade

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Use a sharp knife to cut off the stem end of the acorn squash, you’ll cut about ¼-½ inch off the end. Place the acorn squash cut side down vertically on a wooden cutting board so that it is very secured to your counter. We don’t want the cutting board or squash to wobble as you cut it. Next cut the acorn squash in half vertically. Use your knife to cut the acorn squash vertically down the middle. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and discard. Place the squash halves flesh side down on your prepared baking sheet. Roast for 50 minutes-1 hour or until squash is very fork tender. Set aside to cool for a little bit before scooping out the flesh.

While the squash is cooking: you can toast the hazelnuts: place a large skillet over medium low heat. Add in hazelnuts and toast for 2-3 minutes until nice and golden and fragrant. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add flesh to a high powered blender or food processor and add in milk, pure maple syrup, cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Blend until smooth, adding more milk if necessary to smooth out the sauce. Set aside.

In the same pan that you toasted the hazelnuts, you can brown your butter: add butter and place over medium heat. The butter will begin to melt, crackle, and then eventually foam. Make sure you stir constantly during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown and turn a nice golden amber color on the bottom of the saucepan, this usually happens right when it foams. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Set aside to cool a bit (keeping butter in the pan but removing pan from heat) while you cook your pasta.

Cook pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet with the brown butter, give it a nice stir to coat all the pasta with the brown butter, then immediately add in the acorn squash sauce and garlic powder; stir again until nice and creamy. Generously season with salt and pepper to taste (I like a lot of black pepper!). Garnish with sage and your toasted hazelnuts, and fresh shaved parmesan; stirring into the pasta if desired.

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