Butternut Orecchiette W/Arugula and Pine Nuts

By GuidingVegan

Ingredients

• sauce:
• 2 large butternut squash, halved lengthwise
• 1 tbsp evoo
• salt and pepper
• sprinkle dried ground thyme
• handful of thyme sprigs
• 2 tbsp olive oil (or more grape seed or whatever you like)
• 3 large or 4 small cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 or 3 large shallots chopped
• pinch of chili flakes (optional)
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 2 cup vegetable stock
• pasta:
• 2 cups dried orecchiette (or other small pasta)
• 2 big handfuls of washed arugula
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from thefirstmess.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut butternut squash in half, deseed, cover in evoo, sprinkle with salt, pepper, dried thyme and lay face down on the thyme sprigs. Place squash in the oven and roast until very tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.

Make pasta in large pot, drain, set aside.

Return pot to stove and heat evoo. Add the garlic, shallots, thyme and chili flakes, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the roasted squash and stir it all up, mashing the squash down into the sautéing aromatics, 5 minutes. Add the lemon zest, juice and the vegetable stock, stir until roughly combined and remove from the heat. Puree the mixture adding more liquid if necessary.

Once squash sauce is simmering, add cooked pasta, arugula and pine nuts, reserving a bit of each for garnish if you like. Add some of the pasta water of you want to loosen the mixture up a bit. Serve hot.