This Butternut Squash Pasta dish is a recipe given to me by a very special someone and has some lovely memories attached to it! Roasted butternut squash mashed with feta cheese and loaded onto pasta – what’s not to like?
It’s super easy to make this Butternut Squash Pasta dish! All you need to do is roast the butternut squash until the flesh is soft and tender, then add it to a frying pan with the remaining ingredients and mash! The below recipe makes enough of the butternut squash “topping” to serve 3-4 people, and any leftovers can easily be stored in the fridge or frozen. Serve the creamy, cheesy, butternut squash topping with some pasta and an optional side of green veg (I would recommend broccoli or peas)!
Tips for roasting the Butternut Squash
This Butternut Squash Pasta dish is extremely easy to make, but the most time-consuming part of the recipe is waiting for the squash to roast. While you can leave the squash whole for roasting, if you take two minutes to cut the squash in half lengthwise before roasting, you can reduce the time it needs in the oven quite a bit.
The trickiest part really is scooping out the flesh of roasted butternut squash once roasted – especially if it is piping hot! As you will be re-heating the squash in a pan anyway, if you have the time you can already roast the squash in advance and leave it to cool for longer to make this step easier. If the squash is already halved, it is also much easier to first remove the seeds, and then scoop out/scrape off all the flesh from the skin.
More Delicious and Easy Pasta Recipes
We all love a delicious and easy pasta recipe, and I have a lot of different ones on my blog. I have listed a few of my favourites below, so don’t forget to check those out, too!
- Creamy Chicken and Pesto Pasta
- Spaghetti with a Tomato and Meatball Sauce | Lady and the Tramp
- Butternut Squash and Tomato Tagliatelle
- Pasta with Cheese Sauce and Crispy Bacon
- Spaghetti Alioli (Aglio e Olio) | Family Favourite
- Smoky Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti
- Pasta with Spinach Sauce and Salmon
- Creamy Hummus Linguine
- Fingal’s Butternut Squash Pasta
- Easy Lasagne Recipe
- Spaghetti Pesto with Feta Cheese
Fingal’s Butternut Squash Pasta
Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 1 large (or two smaller) butternut squash
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- ½ red chilli (use more or less depending on how spicy it is)
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked off
- 200g feta cheese
- 2-3 tbsp crème fraiche
- 2-3 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
- 300g penne pasta
- Fresh basil, to serve
- Green veg (e.g. peas, broccoli, etc.), to serve (optional)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan and line a baking tray with some tin foil.
- Half the butternut squash lengthways and place, flesh-side down, on the prepared baking tray. Roast the butternut squash in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes, or until the flesh is very soft. Remove from the oven and set aside to cools slightly.
- Use a large metal spoon to carefully scoop the seeds out of the butternut squash and discard. Then spoon out as much of the butternut squash out of their skins and place into a bowl. Set aside until needed.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
- In a large frying pan, gently heat the olive oil over a medium heat and add the garlic, chilli and thyme leaves. Gently fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add in the butternut squash and use a wooden spoon to break it up until completely mushed up.
- Crumble in the feta cheese and add the crème fraiche before mixing well and breaking up the feta until the cheese has melted and everything is well combined.
- Finally, stir through the grated parmesan cheese and scatter over the fresh basil.
- Serve the butternut squash mix with the pasta and enjoy!
