Prep Time 10 minutes - Total Time 1 hour - Serves 3
One of the reasons that I love pasta so much is because with literally just a few ingredients you can have a superb little plate of food in no time. And this is a prime example, butternut squash, cheese, sausages and pasta, easy and tasty!
(You will also find this recipe on page 74 of my book Richard’s Family Favourites click here)
Ingredients
200 g of pasta of your choice.
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed.
15 g of parmesan cheese, freshly grated.
Optional a pinch of chilli flakes, to taste.
10 chicken chipolatas.
40 g of grated mozzarella.
Method
Place the butternut squash into a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil, season and mix. Pop into a preheated oven set at 160℃ for 40-50 minutes or till tender. Depending on how big or small you have made the cubes they may take a little less time or a little longer, so just keep an eye on them.
Once done take half of the squash and put in a food processor along with the parmesan cheese, chilli flakes if using and a little drizzle of olive oil. Then whizz till smooth, check for seasoning and pop to one side along with the rest of the squash.
Now get the pasta on the go. Cook according to the packet and when ready drain but save some of the pasta water.
Take the sausages out of their casings and break them up into little meat nuggets. Get them in a frying pan with a little oil and fry over a medium heat. You are looking at getting a nice bit of colour and building a crispy crust on the sausages. Should take around 5 minutes.
Next, add the smooth whizzed up butternut squash to the sausages. Turn down the heat to low and give that a minute so the sauce and sausages can get to know each other.
Add the pasta to the sauce and mix well to combined everything together. If you feel it’s too thick add a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen it up.
Finally transfer the mixture to the roasting dish, top with the remaining cubed butternut squash, sprinkle with the cheese and into a preheated oven set at 200℃ for 5 minutes or till the cheese has melted.