Oh. Good. Heavens!
I literally pranced around the kitchen like a little kid on Christmas morning when I tasted this bangin' pasta. In case you don't know, that is part of some song. I don't know what song, if you know what song, let me know. That's the only part I can recite. Anyways, new favorite dish alert! Gah, this pasta dish is so delicious I could never do it justice just talking about it. You'll just have to go make it, I'm sorry.
This is Fall comfort food at it's best. It's sweet, it's savory, it's creamy and cheesy and guess what? It's actually pretty darn good for you too thanks to delicious roasted butternut squash and wilted kale. Really, there's not a whole lot tastier than roasted butternut squash. And it makes the whole house smell so wonderful and cuddly and just goddamn lovely. Sigh.
If you're trying out veganism this is a fantastic dish to start with. I feel like this would definitely be my "bible" of vegan dishes. Like, if I was going around door to door trying to convert people (as I always do...) then I would definitely use this dish as my converting weapon of choice. That was probably horrendously offensive. I can't be controlled.
Anyway, seriously, it's amazing. But I mean, lets be real here...everything, most things, some things I make are pretty amazing. Well, everything I post at least. Did you try yesterday's soup?! It was pretty incredible, too.
Vegan and omnivores alike are going to love this pasta. Come on, it has cheese in it okay? And yes, some vegan cheese is downright excellent!
Creamy Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale
Inspired by Apartment 34
Serves 6
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced small (about 6 cups)
- 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 cup vegan butter
- 17 oz. of pasta ( I used whole wheat spaghetti)
- 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large bunch of kale, de-stemmed and chopped
- 1/2 cup vegan mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp. dried sage
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Peel, remove seeds, and dice the butternut squash. Then, on a parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet scatter the squash cubes and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss around to coat. Bake for 40 minutes or until squash is tender when poked with a fork.
Meanwhile, slice the onions and mince the garlic. When there is about 20 minutes left for the squash to cook, bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil for the pasta. Once boiling add the pasta, cook for about 10 minutes or according to package and then drain. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water for use later.
Heat the butter in a very large soup pot. Allow to melt over medium heat for about 3 minutes then add in the onions and the garlic. Saute until the onions begin to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, de-stem and chop the kale, then add it to onions and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.
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Add in the cooked pasta, reserved pasta water, cheese, nutritional yeast and sage and stir well to combine. Make sure there's no clumps of cheese. Now, add in the squash and stir gently to combine.
Serve hot with additional sage or nutritional yeast to garnish or even some pumpkin seeds! Yum!
[yumprint-recipe id='15']
