Sunday, January 24, 2010

Butternut Squash & Sausage Pasta


I bought a beautiful butternut squash a couple of weeks ago and I've been eyeballing it just trying to decide on what I want to make with it. I love squash paired with breakfast sausage. I'm not sure why but the flavors go really well together, I think. I put this together in my head, not really sure how it would turn out, but I think with a bit of adjustments its a winner! Next time I'll either roast the squash in the oven before I add it to the sauce or dice it into smaller pieces. (By the way, this isn't a super quick recipe! The squash takes about 15-20 minutes to peel and dice, prepped ahead of time, the dish itself took about 40 minutes to cook.)
-Amanda

Butternut Squash & Sausage Pasta

1/2 lb pasta (I used bow-tie)
1 package of breakfast sausage (I used low-fat)
1/4 onion
3 cloves of garlic (frequent readers know I LOVE garlic)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp oregano (I would have used sage, but didn't have any)
1 cup milk + 2 tbsp cornstarch OR 1 cup of heavy cream
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper

Cut ends off of squash and peel the thick skin off. Cut lengthwise scoop out seeds, and discard them. Cut squash into small cubes.

In a large saute pan (that has a lid) saute onions and garlic in the olive oil. Cook until caramelized to really develop the onions flavor. Add breakfast sausage and break it up into little crumbles. When sausage is mostly cooked through, add squash. Season with salt, pepper and oregano. Stir the squash occasionally but let it brown a bit. Set water to boil for pasta and cook pasta at the same time as sauce. While squash is cooking mix milk, chicken broth and cornstarch. Pour over squash. Cover and let simmer on low until squash is fork tender. You may need to add more chicken broth if it gets to thick.

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