Honeynut Squash Pasta Sauce
Fall is here and I could not be happier! Every fall I get so excited about cooler temps, crisp leaves, and all of the fun fall activities like pumpkin patches and apple picking! Of course, I also get super excited about the produce and cooking with fall flavors. It’s just the coziest! I have already shared quite a few delicious fall recipes over on my Instagram, and will continue to share more throughout the season.
To be transparent, I’ve never even cooked with honeynut squash before making this recipe! I saw it at Trader Joe’s and had to give it a try (also can we talk about all of the Trader Joe’s fall treats?! That’s another thing I get excited for every year, but I could save that for a whole post on it’s own). I knew I wanted to make a creamy, cozy pasta sauce with the squash and it really did turn out delicious (even my 9 month old loved it). I roasted the squash with yellow onion, a head of garlic, fresh sage, nutmeg, and paprika and it came out full of flavor! These are my favorite types of recipes because even though it might seem hard to make your own pasta sauce it truly is so easy…. you just roast, blend, and enjoy!
This pasta sauce would have been good on just on it’s own, but I wanted to add a little more flavor! I made some crispy prosciutto to go on top and highly recommend. The saltiness was the perfect compliment to the creamy sauce.
I hope you enjoy this and let me know how it is!
Honeynut Squash Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 honeynut squash, cut top off and cut in half lengthwise, remove seeds
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 head of garlic, top 1/4 chopped off
- ~10 sage leaves
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 lb spaghetti
- 4 pieces prosciutto, torn in half
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place honeynut squash, onion, garlic, sage leaves, nutmeg, paprika, olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper in a casserole dish. Use your hands to mix well and make sure everything is coated in olive oil. Cover with foil and roast for 33 minutes.
- While that is cooking prepare the spaghetti according to package instructions. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water, drain the rest and set aside the spaghetti for later use.
- When it is done roasting wait until the squash has cooled enough to handle and scoop it out from the skin. Squeeze the garlic cloves out from the garlic head. Transfer everything to a blender, including the oil (this holds a lot of flavor from roasting).
- Add the cream, parmesan cheese, and pasta water to the blender and blend until smooth. Pour over the spaghetti and mix well.
- For the prosciutto, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add the prosciutto pieces (you might need to do this in batches, you don't want to overcrowd the pan) and cook about 3 minutes on one side, flip and cook 3 more minutes. Chop it and add it on top of the pasta, enjoy!