Pasta con Zucca

This recipe is so rich, hearty, and buttery. I had a delicata squash begging to be used up, and this is where it went! I made it for lunch one day, only I halved the recipe and my hubby and I split it. I was full and content for the rest of the day...thank goodness, because it is definitely not a low-calorie meal! I love the technique of crisping the fresh sage leaves in butter and adding it to the dish...WOW! I used whole wheat linguine, and I think that added a lot to the earthy, rich taste.

I haven't tried this out on the kids yet, but I sure will, the next time I have a squash. I think they may just like its buttery, sweet flavors.

Pasta con Zucca

Ingredients:

4-6 cups cubed orange fleshed winter squash

(I used delicata, you could use pumpkin, Hubbard, even sweet potatoes)

1-2 cups sage leaves

8 oz linguine

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

5 T. butter, divided

2 T. brown sugar

olive oil

1. Place the 1/2 in. cubes of squash into a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and brown sugar. Stir until juices from squash mix with the oil/sugar to form a glaze.

2. Roast the squash on rimmed cookie sheet at 450 until caramelized and tender (took about 25 minutes for me).

3. As the squash roasts, melt 1 T. butter in a saucepan, adding in the destemmed sage leaves. On medium/low heat, with the butter barely bubbling, fry the sage leaves until crisp (about 15 minutes).

4. Boil linguine according to package directions. Drain, and put remaining butter in the cooking pan to melt (this is where you can adjust for taste...I tried to scale back on the butter for calorie reasons). Return drained linguine to pan and toss with the butter, crisp sage leaves, and parmesan cheese.

5. Dish the pasta out into individual servings and put the squash on top. Makes 6-8 servings (or less if you are really hungry).

Source: adapted from The Quarter Acre Farm by Spring Warren