Penne with Butternut Squash
This dish is a minimalist’s take on the northern Italian autumn staple of tortelli filled with zucca, a pumpkinlike vegetable whose flesh, like that of butternut or acorn squash, is dense, orange, and somewhat sweet. The flavor and essential nature of that dish can be captured in a thirty-minute preparation that turns the classic inside out, using the squash as a sauce and sparing you the hours it would take to stuff the tortelli.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Cut the squash into chunks and put it in a food processor. Pulse the machine on and off until the squash appears grated. Alternatively, grate or chop the squash by hand. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
Step 2
Put a large skillet over medium heat and add the butter or oil. A minute later, add the squash, salt and pepper to taste, and about 1/2 cup of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add water, about 1/4 cup at a time, as the mixture dries out, but be careful not to make it soupy. When the squash begins to disintegrate, after 10 or 15 minutes, begin cooking the pasta. While it cooks, season the squash with the nutmeg, sugar if desired, and additional salt and pepper if needed.
Step 3
When the pasta is tender, scoop out about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and reserve it, then drain the pasta. Toss the pasta in the skillet with the squash, adding the reserved pasta-cooking water if the mixture seems dry. Taste and add more of any seasonings you like, then toss with the Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve.
notes
Step 4
Peel the squash with a knife, not a vegetable peeler, which is likely to break. And don’t worry if you take a bunch of the flesh along with the peel; remember that squash is almost always inexpensive.
Step 5
Some butternut squash is sweeter than others, and there’s no way to predict this by appearance. Since this sauce relies on sweetness for its character, if the squash seems a little bland as it cooks, add about a teaspoon of sugar. It will brighten the flavor considerably.
