Penne with Roasted Butternut Squash

My initial intention was to make a soup with this squash, but I (or I watched a friend) make soup last week and so wanting to change things up, I found this recipe online. The ingredients call for pancetta and I never knew what I was missing out on! It was wonderful. I made this recipe for dinner and it turned out remarkably well. I actually followed the recipe this time, with only an addition of garlic to give it a little more flavor. By the time I realized I hadn't taken any pictures, there wasn't much left.

Penne with Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients

• 1 medium (about 2 1/4 pounds) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)-- (I used more and it worked out just fine)
  
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs dried sage
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground pepper

• 3/4 pound penne pasta

• 2 tbs olive oil
  
• 3 ounces pancetta, sliced 1/4 inch thick and finely chopped (I could only find the pre-sliced variety so I just used a pair of scissors and cut it into 1/4 inch pieces.)
  
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 clove minced garlic
  
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I forgot about these and it tasted fine without it.)
  
• 2 tbs dried sage leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup finely grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving (we could only find Parmesan so that's what I used.)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place butternut squash on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sage, salt, and pepper. Transfer to oven and roast until squash is browned and tender, about 15 minutes or until tender. (I did this ahead of time.)
   
2. Start to bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. As water is heating up,heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add pancetta and cook until just crisp, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Generously salt the pasta water and return to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, according to package directions.
   
4. Add shallots, crushed red pepper, sage, and pepper to large skillet. Cook until shallots are soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add squash and toss gently.
5. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Set pasta and reserved cooking liquid aside. Add cheese and noodles and cook, tossing gently until cheese is melted. (You can add reserved pasta cooking liquid as necessary to moisten.) Serve immediately with more grated cheese, if desired.

I roasted the butternut squash ahead of time and reheated it in the oven while the noodles cooked. Timing was just about perfect. No need to add any salt as there was enough with the pancetta and cheese. I will definitely be making this dish again! Feel free to change up the veggie to create a different taste.

Baked Ziti

This meal was really easy and healthy! I am proud of the fact that I was able to make ingredients stretch to two meals. I used left over calzone filling from the previous evening, cooked some noodles, added a can of tomatoes, sprinkled some mozzarella cheese on top and wa la! Baked ziti! I'm sure wheat noodles would be great in this meal too.

The filling is composed of a pound of ground turkey meat, a pound of thawed spinach (ring all the liquid out), mushrooms, onions, garlic and seasonings. (Like I mentioned before, half of this went into calzones, which made a wonderful filling.) After mixing the remains with the tomatoes and noodles, I put it in a 350 degree oven til the cheese melted and the other ingredients warmed through.

A Twist on a Classic: Butternut Squash, Ground Turkey Lasagna

I bought a butternut squash a few weeks back from Trader Joe's and have been kicking around ideas in my head on what to do with it. At first I really wanted to make a soup because I had a fabulous cup of butternut squash soup from Erik's Deli not too long ago. Thinking how I would even make this at home, I came to grips that I do not have the proper equipment to even puree anything so the idea of a soup went out the window.

The thought of incorporating it into a lasagna popped into my mind. We have ground turkey meat in the freezer so I went to the grocery store to buy remaining ingredients. Since squash and turkey meat are healthy, I went with wheat lasagna noodles opposed to the regular kind.

Ingredients

• 1 lb butternut squash
• 1 package wheat lasagna noodles
• 2 tbs olive oil
• a small onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
  
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 tbs of sage
  
• salt & pepper (to taste)
  
• 1-16 ounce container of non-fat cottage cheese (use any kind you like)
  
• 4 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese (use any kind you like)
  
• 2-28 ounce bottles of Prego 'Heart Healthy Italian Sauce' (Feel free to use your own sauce! It was on sale and went with the theme of the meal. I did not use all the sauce but one jar isn't enough)

The very first step is to cook the butternut squash.

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  
• Split the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, pour on some olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  
• I placed it cut side down on a baking sheet for 30 minutes.
  
• Half way through I turned it over and cooked for another 30 minutes.
  
• Depending on the size of the squash, times may vary.
  
• I didn't cook it until it was all the way squishy (for lack of a better term). I wanted it to be able to hold up to the lasagna after being incorporated.
• Take out the squash and let cool before handling.
  
• Once it is cooled, scoop out the 'meat'. I used half of it for this recipe (came to about a pound) and I saved the other half for a snack at a later time. As I do not have a food processor, I took a potato masher and smashed up the squash.
  

At this point, it is time to start prepping the other ingredients.

• Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles as instructed on the box. (I used 12 noodles and it was all I needed.)
• Add olive oil to a pan and heat up.
• Add onions and sweat down before adding the garlic and season with salt and pepper.
  
• Toss in the meat and break it up with a spoon as not to get big chunks. (Unless that's what you want.)
• Let the meat cook for a few minutes before adding the sage.
• Ground turkey is relatively healthier than ground beef so the meat didn't really have to be drained. I used a spoon to scoop out excess moisture.
• At this point I incorporated the butternut squash and let the flavors marry while the noodles finished cooking.

Once meat and noodles are cooked, it is time for assembly!

At this point, I have one phrase for you: mise en place (everything in place). Before attempting to cook, I want everything I will be using (equipment and ingredients) at my disposal. My room may be a disaster area, but when it comes to cooking and baking, I want all my ingredients out and ready for use so I don't have to stop in the middle of doing something to grab an item I forgot.

I have the jars of sauce open, the cottage cheese open, the mozzarella cheese dumped into a bowl so I don't have to reach into the bag (assuming you buy your cheese pre-shredded), the sides of my 9x13 inch pan sprayed down and the noodles drained while my oven is preheating to 350 degrees. (Depending on how fat the layers are, you may want a 2nd smaller square baking dish to accommodate the leftover ingredients.)

To begin assembly:

• Start with a half to one cup of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Some people really like a saucy lasagna and others do not. Put as much as you like, just make sure to cover the bottom.
• Lay down 3 noddles to create the noodle layer.
  
• Next layer on a third of the meat mixture, a third of the cottage cheese and a cup of the mozzarella cheese. Do not worry about what the layer looks like as people are only going to see the final product once it is cooked.
  
• Spoon on some more sauce and continue the same steps as before. (Noodles, meat mixture, and the cheeses)
  
• At this point I put on sauce, layer on 3 more noodles, and then top with some more sauce. One more cup of the cheese goes on top.
• (There is leftover ingredients that would not have fit into the 9x13 pan. I put the remaining ingredients into a smaller, square pan and made a mini lasagna.)
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes until that top layer of cheese becomes nice and bubbly.

When the timer goes off, remove from the oven and let sit for a few minutes. If you cut into it right away, it could be a soggy mess as it didn't have time to set.

Even though only a few people ate it, they all seemed to really enjoy it. The rustic feel of the squash (from being mashed) added a layer of texture to the dish.

I had a killer headache the afternoon I made this and with that distraction, I forgot to take any pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was amazingly good. :-)