Roasted butternut squash Alfredo pasta

I've been in comfort mode for the past few weeks. Something about a chill in the air. Anyway, it helps for awhile, particularly when served with wine. A nice crisp white offsets this thick Alfredo-ish sauce. There's no egg or anything, so it's not a true Alfredo sauce, but frankly, it's tastier despite being slightly, possibly more healthful. Because, well, bacon. Really, really good bacon from Hilltop.

Plus, I super overbought at the last few farmers markets of the season, so I've got to make progress so they don't go to waste. (One stall offered four small butternuts for $2! How could I not buy a zillion?)

Roasted butternut squash Alfredo

Adapted from joyfulhealthyeats.com

Ingredients

3 cups cubed butternut squash (peeled and seeded)

Olive oil for drizzling

4 strips of bacon

1½ tablespoons butter

1 cup diced red onion

1 garlic clove

8 sage leaves, julienned, plus more for garnish

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

½ cup chicken broth

½ milk (at least 2 percent fat)

1 pound pasta, cooked until al dente (rigatoni or penne works well)

Parmesan cheese for garnish

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss squash cubes with a sprinkle of coarse salt and generous drizzle of olive oil and spread on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until tender and slightly browned.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan to drain on paper towels. When cool enough to handle, chop/crumble into bite size pieces.

If your bacon isn’t very fatty, add butter to pan over medium low heat; otherwise just use the bacon fat. Add onion, garlic and herbs. Cook until onion is translucent. Add stock and simmer while squash roasts. Add roasted squash to pan. Stir in milk.

Pour mixture into food processor and puree. Return to pan. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as necessary. Stir in drained cooked pasta, adding pasta cooking liquid if you like a thinner sauce.

Rating: High on the taste and comfort scale, pretty gosh darn easy, an all-around keeper.  

An entry into the non-keeper category? Piecaken. This is pastry abuse.