Pasta with Butternut Sauce (338/366)

Tonight’s dinner comes courtesy of Jen, who when I asked, “What should I make for dinner?” promptly replied with this. Heck yeah.

As part of our ongoing effort to eat slightly healthier (partially derailed by my baking of 12 dozen cookies and a banana bread yesterday), this seemed right up our alley.

The sauce is actually made of butternut squash which gives it a very satisfying texture. Mixed in is some spicy sausage and some spinach. The sausage gives it a nice kick and makes it seem like you are eating some pretty substantial. I was a little bit curious as to how the sausage and the squash would pair together, but it turns out they pair together quite well. Topped with some freshly shaved parmesan and we’ve got a winner!

And yes, we used heart shaped pasta. Because we’re either that cheesy or there was a sale around Valentine’s Day and we’re just now getting around to eating it.

Pasta with Butternut Sauce

adapted from Skinny Taste

• 11 oz (3-4 links) of spicy Italian sausage
• 1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 10 oz pasta
• 1/4 cup shallots, minced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups of baby spinach, roughly chopped
• parmesan cheese
• sage
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the squash until soft. Drain and blend using a blender or immersion blender (used ours for the first time!) until smooth.

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package to al dente. Save at least 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.

Meanwhile, remove the casing from the sausage. In a large saute pan, crumble up the sausage and saute until brown. When it is cooked through, remove from pan and set aside.

Melt the butter in the pan and add the garlic and the shallots. Saute until they are soft and golden. Add in the butternut squash, salt and pepper, and enough pasta water to thin it out as you like. Add the spinach and stir until it wilts down. Add a dash of sage and some parmesan.

Finally, toss in the sausage and the pasta and stir until everything is evenly coated.

Serve with additional parmesan cheese if desired.