Recipe Background
How best to embrace the autumnal beauty of the season? Well, why not replace the tomato sauce on your pasta with a more fall-fabulous substitute? Butternut Squash Bake Pasta is tender pasta coated in a sunset orange sauce, with butternut squash as the base and rich butter, smoky Gouda cheese, tangy ricotta, and fragrant garlic. Topped with nutty parmesan cheese and crispy prosciutto, Butternut Squash Bake Pasta is cheesy bliss for fall lovers everywhere!
How best to embrace the autumnal beauty of the season? Well, why not replace the tomato sauce on your pasta with a more fall-fabulous substitute? Butternut Squash Bake Pasta is tender pasta coated in a sunset orange sauce, with butternut squash as the base and rich butter, smoky Gouda cheese, tangy ricotta, and fragrant garlic. Topped with nutty parmesan cheese and crispy prosciutto, Butternut Squash Bake Pasta is cheesy bliss for fall lovers everywhere!
Ingredients
- 2 cups butternut squash cubed
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic peeled and whole
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary divided
- crushed red pepper flakes to taste
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 8 slices prosciutto
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 (16-ounce) box pasta such as spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon sage freshly chopped
- 1/2 cup Gouda cheese shredded
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese grated, plus more, to taste, for garnish
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- On a baking sheet, add the butternut squash, the olive oil, the garlic, the thyme, 1 tablespoon of the rosemary, the red pepper flakes, the salt, and the black pepper and toss to coat.
- Arrange the prosciutto around the butternut squash mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Check the prosciuttoto make sure it is not getting too brown.
- Bake again until the squash is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
- Set the prosciutto aside. In a food processor, add the butternut squash mixture and the ricotta, cover the processor, and purée the butternut squash mixture until smooth.
- Season the butternut squash purée with the salt and the black pepper, as needed.
- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, add the pasta and cook it to al dente, according to the package directions.
- Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain the remainder.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the butter and the sage and cook, while stirring, until the butter begins to brown, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the butternut squash purée and 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the brown butter mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the Gouda and 1/3 cup of the parmesan to the butternut squash mixture and stir until the cheese has melted.
- Add the pasta to the butternut squash mixture and toss to combine.
- Add the remaining reserved pasta water, a little at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. You may not need any or all of the remaining reserved pasta water.
- Serve topped with the extra parmesan cheese, the remaining rosemary, and the prosciutto.
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