Penne with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

lets just start off by saying that day 2 was way more delicious than day 1!  I'm so glad I decided to stick with this project (ahem) and see it thru to this recipe!  I stole this recipe from Giada deLaurentis of Food Network fame, you can find it here.  I know, I know- it's not from my cookbook, but these are my rules and I can break them for delicious eats.

I have never eaten Butternut Squash before, nor worked with one.  it was surprisingly easy to prep, although I would prefer to find one already cut into cubes- and it was extremely tasty after being roasted with onions, olive oil, salt & pepper.  oh my!

the ingredients:

Vegetable oil cooking spray

1 (2 lb.) butternut or kombucha squash

1 onion

Olive oil

Kosher salt and fresh ground  pepper
1 lb. penne pasta
1 c. goat cheese
1 c. walnuts
1 c. fresh basil
1/3 c. finely grated Parmesan*





I had to toast nuts again...  I learned my lesson from last nights fiasco and didn't burn them!  I also remembered to time the cooking ingredients that required it.  yay!

*I used Parmigiano Reggiano
      

 butternut squash & onions ready to roast

relax, my knife looks like from the goat cheese.

recipe called for 1 c. reserved pasta water, this is the first time I've used this technique.  it made for a creamy sauce!

all together now!

this recipe was extremely easy to make.  prepping the butternut squash was my least favorite part, if you find one already cubed, I would purchase it!  the veggies also take about 40 min. to cook, overall time in the kitchen: 1 hour.  I really enjoyed the walnuts in this dish as well, their flavor isn't overwhelming, its almost like they are there strictly for crunch.  my favorite bites were every bite that had an onion in it...  having made these two recipes I realize how much I love onions and missed cooking with them.  they are so yummy roasted!

this recipe would have been too weird for Jake.  I think the goat cheese would have really thrown him off.  and lets not get into the squash, onions and nuts...  I can't wait for him to start picking some recipes! 

lesson learned this evening: a watch pot never boils.

~pam