As I grow older, I find I’m a pretty good recipe cook for someone who rarely cooked when younger. Yesterday I prepared a dish that has a fall feel to it, probably because the original recipe called for pumpkin. I’ve tried this recipe with a small pie pumpkin but found that butternut squash is much more flavorful than pumpkin, so I now use squash instead.
I’ll walk you through the recipe. If you’d like to try it, give me some feedback on what you think. The recipe serves two, nicely, and calls for:
1 medium butternut squash, seeded, peeled and cut into 2” chunks.
4 (or whatever a small bag contains) shallots, peeled and quartered.
3 tablespoons of olive oil (I generally use more)
3 tablespoons of dry sage
Sea salt and pepper
12 oz. of rigatoni
2 tablespoons margarine
5 oz of crumbled goat cheese. (I find the flavored kind is best).
I cut the squash crosswise into about 4 pieces and then peel it by laying the pieces on their side and slicing the skin off slicing around sqush. This speeds up the process some. Yes you waste some squash, but squash is cheaper than labor.
I find peeling the shallots takes the most time, but these little devils are worth the effort,
When finished, cover a medium baking sheet with foil, coat the foil with olive oil and scatter the squash and shallots evenly on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with dry sage and salt and pepper over the pieces. This is where putting additional olive oil beyond 3 table spoons comes in handy. When all is on place, turn the pieces over to evenly coat them with spices, seasoning and oil. I find it easier and less messy to use a flat spatula for this task.
Heat oven to 450 degrees when up to temp, place the baking sheet filled pan longwise in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes using a timer.
Next, fill a large pot with water, add salt but do not heat yet.
When the timer goes off, toss the squash and shallots. Again use a spatula. You’ll know why as ingredients are now soft. Turn the pan 180 degrees and place back in the oven. Set the timer for 15 minutes and apply high heat to the pot of water. When the water is at a rolling boil, add rigatoni and stir occasionally.
Cook pasta for about 12 minutes or until done al dente. Reserve I cup of pasta water, drain pasta and return it to the pot. Add back pasta water and set pot on low heat.
Remove squash and shallots at 15 minutes.
Add margarine, goat cheese to the pot of rigatoni pasta and stir until melted. Add squash and shallots from the baking sheet to the pot of rigatoni, goat cheese and margarine and stir gently.
This dish is great with a good bottle of pinot. Bon Apatite
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