Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Goat Cheese + Crispy Sage

There are certain dinners that taste like the season they belong to. This is one of them.

Roasting the butternut squash first brings out its natural sweetness and gives this sauce so much more depth. Shallot, garlic, red pepper and nutmeg make it savory, a little Dijon cuts through the sweetness, and goat cheese melts in for creaminess and just enough tang.

No heavy cream. No complicated cheese sauce. Just real ingredients blended into something ridiculously creamy.

And because this is From the Table, there’s always something in the bowl feeding your glow, too.

Ingredients

  • 12 oz pasta
  • 2 cups butternut squash, peeled + cubed
  • 1–2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1–1½ cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2–3 oz goat cheese
  • 1–2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 6–8 fresh sage leaves
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly cracked black pepper
  • Reserved pasta water

From the Table

Heat oven to 425°F.

Toss the butternut squash with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet and roast for 25–30 minutes, until completely tender with caramelized edges.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until just al dente. Before draining, reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.

While the pasta cooks, warm a little olive oil in a skillet. Add the shallot and sauté until soft and beginning to caramelize. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and nutmeg and cook for another 30–60 seconds, just until fragrant.

Add the roasted squash, sautéed shallot mixture and about 1 cup of broth to a blender. Blend until completely smooth and velvety.

Pour the sauce back into the skillet over low heat. Stir in the goat cheese, Dijon and nutritional yeast until everything melts together.

Add the cooked pasta and toss until coated, adding a splash of reserved pasta water as needed. You want the sauce silky and loose enough to settle into every little pocket of pasta.

For the sage, heat a small drizzle of olive oil in a skillet and add the leaves. Cook briefly until fragrant and crisp.

Finish the pasta with fresh lemon juice, lots of cracked black pepper and the crispy sage.

Serve immediately.

Feed Your Glow

Butternut squash brings beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A—a nutrient important for normal skin-cell growth and maintenance. It also provides vitamin C, an essential nutrient for normal collagen production.

Extra virgin olive oil gives the dish monounsaturated fats and antioxidant plant compounds. Fat also helps your body absorb fat-soluble carotenoids from foods like squash.

Garlic + shallot add more than flavor. They contain sulfur compounds and antioxidant plant compounds, making them an easy way to layer more phytonutrients into an everyday meal.

Sage may only be the finishing touch, but herbs are one of our favorite ways to add flavor and plant compounds without needing much of anything else.

And the goat cheese? That one’s partly there because dinner should taste really good, too.

Easy Swaps

  • No goat cheese? Try a little feta for a saltier finish, or leave the cheese out and add another spoonful of nutritional yeast.
  • Gluten-free? Use your favorite gluten-free pasta.
  • Want more protein? Add browned grass-fed ground beef, Italian chicken sausage or white beans.
  • No nutritional yeast? Leave it out. The sauce will still be delicious.
  • Want it dairy-free? Skip the goat cheese and increase the nutritional yeast slightly for extra savory depth.
  • No fresh sage? Fresh thyme or rosemary works beautifully with roasted squash.
  • More heat? Be generous with the red pepper flakes.
  • Thicker sauce? Use less broth. Silkier sauce? Add pasta water a splash at a time.

FROM THE TABLE

Good food. Good skin. Same philosophy.

Feed your glow.

 

-Natalie

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