Spring has sprung, but I still had butternut squash and broccolini in my refrigerator. Although I love spring time for the flowers and beautiful days here in the city, I will miss my squash dishes. I love butternut squash, spaghetti squash and acorn squash, but typically these tasty beauties are only available during the fall/winter seasons.
If you are fortunate enough to have butternut squash and broccolini in your grocery store this month, this quick and easy recipe is bursting with flavor and nutrients. To save time, I made my squash ahead of time, so that when I got home from a long day at work, the time baking of the squash was already complete. I simply popped them back in the oven to warm them up for about 10 mins. If you have the time, the squash is best when prepared and eaten on the same day, they form a caramelized and crispy texture that is not quite as pronounced when reheated… but sometimes our schedules just don’t allot for that. You can use your favorite pasta to serve with this dish. I chose a quinoa based pasta shell, but orecchiette or a rigatoni would work nicely as well.
- 1 Butternut squash
- 1 Large bundle of Broccolini (stems trimmed and leaves removed)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (add more for an additional kick)
- ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Pasta of choice
- Peel and cube 1 butternut squash into 1″ cubes
- Toss squash in olive oil/salt and pepper
- Bake at 400 for 1 hour
- After baking the squash, bring 3 cups of water to a boil
- Add broccolini to the boiling water. Allow to cook for 3-4 mins
- To avoid over cooking the broccolini, place the cooked broccolini into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process
- Add pasta to boiling water after broccolini is removed
- Cook pasta for 7-8 mins/strain leaving a few Tbsp of pasta water in the sauce pan
- Add in the squash, pressed garlic cloves, parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes to the pasta and toss gently together
- Gently fold in the broccolini
- Serve immediately
Can’t wait to try this dish. Looks wonderful. Love A sissy♥
Thank you…so glad to see you on my blog! Hope you enjoy this simple and flavorful dish! Love you
I am not at all an experienced cook, but I am recently getting into cooking more and this dish is PHENOMENAL!! The butternut squash had soo much flavor and together with the broccolini and pasta it was so tasty and really easy. My husband was smiling from ear to ear! Thanks for the awesome recipe, Sheena!