Butternut Squash Pasta

5 from 1 vote

This butternut squash pasta is made with roasted butternut squash, roasted garlic, butter-fried sage, and creamy mascarpone cheese.

Servings: people

Cut the stem off the top of the butternut squash. Split it in half. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Cut the end off a garlic head. Don't peel the garlic. Roast it as-is. Sprinkle olive oil and salt on top of the squash and head of garlic. Bake the garlic at 400 ℉ (205 ℃) for about 30 minutes and the halved squash for about 60 minutes. The garlic and squash have different cooking times! See note 3.
Melt butter on medium-high heat. Fry the chopped fresh sage until it turns dark brown (about 2 minutes). Add the roasted butternut squash, peeled roasted garlic, butter fried sage, mascarpone cheese, salt, and pepper to a food processor. Blend on high until combined.
Boil pasta separately per the package instructions. Drain. Add the butternut squash pasta sauce to the cooked pasta.

This goes great with some grilled or roasted chicken. You can also add shred some rotisserie chicken and mix it in. Another great protein to add is grilled shrimp or butter sauteed shrimp.
Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. The pasta can dry out if reheating the next day. Add a bit of water or broth when reheating.
Use frozen butternut squash as a substitute. The cooking time for the squash depends on whether you are roasting the squash as a half or as cubes. If roasting cubes, the cooking time should be between 30 to 40 minutes. When roasting a whole squash cut into halves, it should take 50 to 65 minutes (depending on your oven) at a 400 ℉ (205 ℃) oven.
You don't need to wrap anything in foil. Just open roast the squash and garlic. Garlic can burn easily, so keep an eye on it.
What to do with the other half of the squash? Scoop the squash into a freezer-friendly bag and store it in the freezer for future use. You can make this recipe with frozen roasted squash; just reheat the squash, then blend it with the other ingredients.
Use any kind of pasta for this creamy squash pasta sauce.
Lighten up this sauce by using reduced-fat mascarpone cheese. You can also reduce the amount of mascarpone cheese from ¾ cup to ½ cup. Add a ⅓ cup of water or broth when blending the pasta sauce.
The nutrition facts don't include the pasta.
Substitute equal parts ricotta cheese for mascarpone cheese.
Substitute other fresh herbs like fresh rosemary or fresh thyme instead of sage.