A sumptuous, lip-smacking butternut squash pasta recipe that will become the dream of every home cook and the happiness of all your guests!
Pasta is my number one favorite food, and my recipe for Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta with Mushroom and Crispy Sage makes a luscious and satisfying dish using seasonal ingredients.
This dish began as a quick weeknight meal at the end of a tough day. All I wanted was some comfort food. Despite having had no time for shopping, I found some butternut squash and a bunch of mushrooms left in my fridge.
When my husband came to the dining table, he saw the plate of pasta and asked: “Are we celebrating something?” Right then, I realized that wasn’t just a simple weeknight dish but also impressive enough to serve for a special occasion 🙂
It’s a fancy meal that is really, really yummy and also so easy to make! Shall we open the good bottle of wine tonight? Yes!!!
Though there are not many ingredients in this recipe, they all come together so beautifully that they produce a feast for your taste buds.
What to love about this pasta recipe:
- It’s perfect for a special occasion as well as for a cozy night in
- Its ingredients are a match made in heaven
- It’s so easy to make
- Though I strongly recommend cooking the pasta when you are about to eat, you can prepare everything else in advance and save time
About the ingredients
Rarely have I found a dish where all the ingredients come together so perfectly. It’s like finding the Perfect Capsule Wardrobe of Fall food, where every single ingredient matches incredibly well with all the others. 100% compatibility guaranteed!
You can discover how to peel and cut butternut squash by checking out my Simple and Perfect Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup recipe. Today I will share some tips about mushrooms.
You can use any type of mushroom in this recipe. I used creminis, but you can also try white button mushrooms, portobellos, or any other kind you wish.
Selecting and Storing Mushrooms
- Fresh mushrooms are firm and plump, without any bruises. You shouldn’t see visible moisture or spots on the outside.
- If you aren’t cooking the mushrooms on the same day of purchase, I recommend storing them in a brown paper bag rather than the plastic container; excess condensation will leave you with waterlogged mushrooms.
- If you don’t have a paper bag on hand, remove the plastic wrap from the box and line the bottom with a paper towel or a dry cloth.
How to clean and prep mushrooms
If this is your first time cooking with fresh mushrooms, let’s begin with the basic principle: avoid excess moisture.
Mushrooms are porous, so they tend to soak up liquid like a sponge. Once they do that, they won’t get nicely crisp and brown because of the excess water.
Therefore, cleaning mushrooms doesn’t involve “washing” them. Rule number one is never, ever soak mushrooms!
- The best way to clean them is to use a damp paper towel, and if you have one, a pastry brush works great to remove the dirt. You can find brushes specifically for cleaning mushrooms, but I do not feel it is necessary to own one.
- If you truly have no time, you are allowed (only in case of emergency!) to quickly rinse them under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. If you do this, cook them immediately.
- After cleaning mushrooms, slice thinly from the ends to the stem or cut them into quarters as called for in the recipe, using a sharp chef’s knife.
- If the stem feels tough, remove it.
- When cooking mushrooms, don’t overcrowd the pan. If you spread them out in a single layer, the contact with the hot pan will allow moisture to evaporate quickly, and they will brown beautifully.
What pasta is right for this recipe?
The pasta shape you choose makes a big difference to the final result. The pasta is always the vehicle for the sauce. And it’s the sauce that determines what shape of pasta is best to use.
With no offense to other pasta shapes (this will be a nice dish with any kind really), I recommend fresh tagliatelle.
Not only does tagliatelle cook in just a few minutes, but its thick ribbon-shape works incredibly well to hold a rich sauce like this one.
When cooking pasta, always makes sure you use a large pot with enough water in it to prevent sticking. No oil is required. (Italians never do it). The right amount of salt is when the water tastes exactly like seawater 😊 .
try also
HEAVENLY BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND CHICKPEA CURRY
SIMPLE AND PERFECT BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND RED LENTIL SOUP
WHIPPED RICOTTA, HONEY-ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH, AND CRISPY SAGE BRUSCHETTA
INCREDIBLY MOIST AND DELICIOUS PUMPKIN BREAD
Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta with Mushrooms and Crispy Sage
Ingredients
- 9-10 oz (250g) fresh egg tagliatelle or 6-7oz (180g) dried tagliatelle
- 1/2 butternut squash cut into 1/2 inches cubes
- 3 cups (300g) mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 8 oz (250g) ricotta cheese
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pinches salt
- 2 pinches pepper
- 1 pinch grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup reserved, starchy pasta cooking water
- A bunch of fresh sage leaves, approximately 1oz, without stems, washed and very carefully dried
- Extra 2 tbsp olive oil for cooking the sage leaves
- Grated cheese, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, toss the squash with 1 tbsp EVO oil, salt, and pepper.Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Roast, stirring occasionally, until squash is golden and tender, 25-30 minutes.
- In the meantime, pour a tablespoon of olive oil into a pan for 30 seconds or until it is hot enough to add the sliced mushrooms. Stir them for about 15 minutes until they are crispy and brown. Season with salt and pepper.
- When the mushrooms are ready, add the butternut squash to the pan, toss all together and remove from the heat. Set aside.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add sage leaves and cook until edges begin to curl and turn dark green, 1-2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer to paper towels to drain.
- Bring to boil a large pot of water. Add salt and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Ideally, remove the pasta 1 minute before finishing the cooking process. When the pasta is ready, take it out of the pot using a spaghetti spoon. Never drain long shaped pasta; it needs to retain some of the cooking water to let the sauce adhere better.Save ½ cup of starchy water for the sauce.
- While the pasta is cooking, combine the ricotta, nutmeg, ¾ tbsp of starchy water (you might need a bit more), and salt in a small bowl; stir together until you have a smooth sauce with a consistency similar to heavy cream.
- Add the sauce to the pan together with the butternut squash and mushrooms.
- Add the pasta to the other ingredients in the pan stirring constantly for about a minute.
- Place the pasta on a serving dish or indivisual plates and garnish with the sage leaves and, if you like, some grated cheese.
- Your pasta is ready to be served.
