Missy Tippens, here. I know we've been talking a lot about pumpkin this month. (See, I've even got pumpkin all over my house in our hand soap!) But today I thought I'd share something else fallish: butternut squash.I had a nice squash and decided I wanted to combine it with pasta. So, after digging, I found bacon (good with just about anything!). And I had greens. I decided that would be great all together!
I'm doing this the easy way. I don't cube raw butternut. Too difficult! I roast it, then cube it.
Cut it in half. Scoop out seeds. Put several pats of butter in the scooped out part. I also buttered the neck of the squash.
I wanted to use half for dinner. And to save the other half for lunch tomorrow. So for the savory side to go with pasta, I added salt and pepper. For the leftovers, I sprinkled on brown sugar.
Roast at 400 degrees until done. It took about 45 minutes for this large squash.
While it's roasting--
Wait, what's that on the counter?? How did that get there (she asks while chewing sweet baked goodness)?
Okay, back to the healthy squash. :) While it's roasting, get the pasta noodles boiling.
Also, cook the bacon.
** Tip: Chop raw bacon with kitchen scissors. It's much easier to cook. This was the first time I've tried bacon that's nitrate/nitrite free. It looked more like ham but cooked up DELISH, just like regular bacon. And I think it tasted even better!
When it was browned, I was going to drain it, but realized this type bacon made less grease. Since I needed some oil anyway to cook my greens, I left the bacon in the pan and tossed in some chopped garlic. Then added the greens.
I used the Power Greens (a mix of baby spinach, kale and swiss chard).
I sautéed until greens wilted.
When the squash is fork tender, remove from oven and let cool a bit. Then sliced criss-cross patterns through one half.
Once it's all sliced, you can scoop the cubes out. Add to the greens and bacon.
Serve on top of pasta. I also topped with fresh parmesan. This was so good! And nice and colorful.
Enjoy for a nice fall meal!
Wow! That looks really tasty. Imagine with no pasta. Nice low carb meal.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna have to try this - might go with the sweeter version though! I've done spaghetti squash a couple of times - learned the hard way that there's a lotta water to smoosh out :-(
ReplyDeleteI tried the nitrite/nitrate free bacon once and wasn't impressed - didn't crisp up the way I expected though probably should have experimented with it more
Susanna
Susanna, I cooked it for a long time. It seemed to take more time than regular bacon. So you might want to try it again sometime. :)
DeleteNo smooshing out water with butternut. :)
I'm with Tina on the no-pasta version.... Missy, this looks marvelous! I love the idea of doing the roasted squash whole because it is a pain in the neck to peel and slice. I still do that for finger food cubes because they get all roasty on the outside, but for a recipe like this: EASY ROCKS! And how stinkin' clever to do the two halves differently? I'm behaving myself between now and Thanksgiving, it's my annual "Pre-emptive Strike"!!! And trust me, I need that strike! OY!
ReplyDeleteI used Dreamfield pasta. That helps! :)
DeleteThis is perfect because I have been feeling so guilty about not cubing my squash when I roast it. YAY and YUM.
ReplyDeleteI give you freedom from cubing, Julie! :)
ReplyDeleteEven my family who aren't fans of any kind of squash might think that looks good enough to eat. :)
ReplyDelete