Skip to main content

David Atherton's recipe for butternut pasta bake



Butternut squash is not just a vegetable. When cooked and blended into a puree, it becomes a silky, creamy sauce. For those wanting to carb-load, you can shovel down this macaroni pasta bake in the knowledge that you are not eating loads of cheese. Be warned, though, not all butternut squash are equal. Bigger are not better – they tend to be woolly and don’t give the sweet, chestnutty flavour and luxurious texture you can get from smaller squash.

Serves two

For the thyme pesto
½ bunch of thyme
1 small bunch of parsley
1 bunch of basil
30g hard cheese (optional)
30ml olive oil
1 clove of garlic
10g roasted pistachios
10ml lemon juice

For the rest
500g peeled butternut squash
1 large onion
Olive oil
150ml white wine
400ml vegetable stock
6 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
½ bunch of thyme
1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp chilli
½ tsp salt
250g macaroni
100g spinach
2 slices of stale sourdough
Salt and black pepper

Blitz all the pesto ingredients until smooth.

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/400F/gas mark 6.

Dice the butternut squash into 1 cm cubes. Put 200g of it on a greased baking tray and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Finely chop the onion and fry with a glug of olive oil until translucent, then add the remaining butternut squash. Add the wine and stock and bring to a simmer.

Add half the minced garlic along with the herbs, spices and salt and simmer for 20 minutes (or until the butternut squash is soft).

While this is simmering, cook your macaroni al dente.

Blend the squash mix until smooth.

Mix the rest of the garlic through the sauce then add to the pasta. Mix in the roasted butternut squash and spinach, then transfer to a baking dish.

Blitz the stale bread into breadcrumbs and toss with salt, black pepper and 15ml olive oil.

Blob the pesto over the top, then sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with your favourite green salad with a zingy dressing.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rachel Roddy’s farro, pumpkin and chestnut soup recipe

Today’s recipe was made from gifts: a packet of vacuum-sealed chestnuts I was given to taste, a bundle of sage from an friend’s garden in Camden brought back to Rome in my rucksack, and a bag of farro from the best wine merchant in Rome, Antonio, who got it from Pacina in Castelnuovo Beradenga in Tuscany, where it grows abundantly. An early form of wheat, and sometimes called emmer wheat (not to be confused with spelt, which is also wheat, but a different genetic variation), farro was a staple grain in early Roman times thanks to its transportability, high protein content, vitamins and slow release of energy. Roman soldiers marched, built and fought on farro, I tell my legionnaire- and gladiator-fixated son, who doesn’t look keen, pushing away the “funny rice”. Looking like a cross between a caraway seed and grape pip when dry, farro does look rather like plump and sturdy brown rice when cooked. It has a mild, nutty taste, and it is this inherent nuttiness that some people dislike ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ping Coombes’s recipe for quick nyonya fried rice

Fried rice has been my go-to fast food at home since my childhood. My mum makes fried rice when she has limited time and she makes this recipe a lot. It is quick, nutritious and utterly satisfying. You can eat it hot off the wok, but I think it tastes better at room temperature; making it a perfect dish to cook in advance. Once you have mastered the art of frying rice, you can put pretty much any ingredients in it. This recipe uses prawns and add the dried shrimps, if you can find them, for extra umami. Serves: 2 Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes 200g Jasmine rice, cooked 1 tbsp dried shrimps (optional) 2 tsp oil 1 egg, lightly beaten ½ onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, chopped 100g raw prawns, shelled 6 chestnut mushrooms, diced ½ tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp fish sauce ½ tsp dark soy sauce Pinch of white pepper Crispy shallots, to serve 1 spring onion, sliced 1 red chilli, sliced Chilli oil (optional) Rehydrate the dried shrimps in boiling water for 5 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nigel Slater’s za’atar lamb recipe

The recipe Mix 2 tbsp of olive oil with 2 tbsp of za’atar spice mix. Brush over 6 lamb cutlets and set aside. Put 4 tbsp of bulgur wheat into a small dish, trickle over just enough water to dampen it and leave for 10 minutes. Remove the seeds from a pomegranate and put them in a mixing bowl. Top and tail 10 radishes and slice them into thin rounds, then add to the pomegranates. Put 2 tbsp of good, fruity olive oil in a small bowl, add 2 tsp of ground sumac, 1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses and the juice of a lemon. Pick the leaves from 6 sprigs of mint and 10 sprigs of parsley, then add them to the pomegranates. Run a fork through the grains and toss them with the salad and dressing. Grill the lamb cutlets for a few minutes on each side, then serve them with the salad. The trick Let the cutlets sit for a good 20 minutes in the za’atar spice mix before grilling. Use an overhead grill, and take care not to let the spice burn. The twist Add chopped cucumber or apple to th...
Post a Comment
Read more