Butternut Squash and Asparagus Pasta with Sage

Autumn, my favorite time of year, is around the corner, which means squash season!!! I bought a butternut squash and felt determined to harken autumn weather with a "rain dance" of cooking.

A Conundrum.

I love roasted vegetables. Fragrant flavors and melt-in-your-mouth yumm that makes my whole apartment smell amazing. But I've always had an issue with roasted veggies mixed with firm pasta. The contrasting textures are just unappealing to me.

However... sautéed vegetables appear more filling with a pasta. But I can't imagine how sauteed butternut squash could taste better than if it were roasted.

So I improvised and created two separate recipes for practically the same pasta: roasted v. sautéed. Tune in for the surprise result!

Sautéed

Roasted

1 lb pasta, noodle optional

1 1/2 lbs butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1" pieces

1 lb of asparagus, diced

1 onion, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter

Fresh sage leaves, minced

Sauteed

1) Cook pasta as directed. Keep one cup of starch liquid.

2) Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, swirl to coat pan. Sauté onion and garlic for two minutes. Add squash, asparagus, salt, pepper, allspice and cinnamon to skillet. Sauté for 10 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove skillet from heat and add melt butter into sauteed vegetables.

3) Spoon vegetables over pasta and add sage leaves for desired taste. Add starchy water to leftovers to keep from drying out.

Roasted

1) Preheat oven to 450F. Add vegetables thru cinnamon to glass baking dish or baking pan. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp of olive oil and mix well. Roast for 30 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp of butter to vegetables and stir to melt.

2) Cook pasta as directed. Keep 1/2 cup of starch liquid.

3) Spoon vegetables over pasta and add sage leaves for desired taste. Add a little starchy water to leftovers to keep from drying out.

And the winner.... ROASTED veggies with pasta! I could not get past the roasted flavor. Next time I want to roast the veggies on a baking sheet, rather than a glass pan, and create a sauce with a low fat cream.