Roasted Butternut Squash Alfredo
Last weekend I was gifted two huge, beautiful butternut squash from a friend. I don’t even the thing the picture does it justice, they each weighed about eight pounds! So with extra squash on my hands, I have time to experiment with some new recipes. I have been wanting to try my hand at making a sauce, and I came up with an amazing Roasted Butternut Squash Alfredo.
Usually I buy pre-peeled and diced squash at the grocery store. But with this beauty on my hand, I had to take the opportunity to test some recipes. Roasting butternut squash is not hard, it is just time consuming. Make sure you have chosen this recipe on a day when you have some time to spend in the kitchen.
I started by preheating my oven to 375 degrees. Slice the squash in half the long way. Then drizzle a little EVOO over the cut sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place on a lined backing sheet, cut sides down. Bake for about 45 minutes.
My squash baked for 45 minutes, and probably could have stayed in longer. But I knew I was going to cook it further and needed the oven so I pulled it out.. A smaller squash should only take 45 minutes. When the timer goes off, pull it out of the oven and check it with a fork. If it is fork tender, you are all set. If it feel hard, pop it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
Once your squash is roasted, you can scoop out the insides or peel the skin. You can use whatever method you like, I prefer to scoop out the inside.
While the squash is cooking, you can start preparing the rest of the sauce. For the sauce you will need 3 slices turkey bacon – chopped into small pieces, 1/2 diced red onion, 2 cloves of garlic, a bunch of fresh sage, 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, 1 cup of chicken broth, 1 cup of oat milk (or milk of your choice), salt, pepper, 12 oz. gluten free fettuccini and EVOO.
By far, my favorite turkey bacon is Applegate Uncured Turkey Bacon. Turkey bacon will never really taste like regular bacon, but this is a great alternative. Even my kids now prefer Applegate Turkey bacon to regular bacon. With 30 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and 5 grams of protein per slice, it is a really healthy alternative.
Once the squash is cooked, you can cook your fettuccini according to the package directions. While the fettuccini is cooking you can start your Roasted Butternut Squash Alfredo.
Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 t. EVOO to the saucepan. Add bacon, onion and garlic to the pan. Once the bacon and onion are crisp, add 3 cups of the roasted butternut squash, broth, and milk. Strip the leaves from the thyme and add them to the sauce. Add the bunch of sage. Sprinkle in a little salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes. If your sauce seems a too thick, add some water from the pasta pot a little at a time.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and use an immersion blender to blend everything together. If you don’t have an immersion blender, allow the sauce to cool. Then you can use a regular blender to blend everything together.
If you are in the market for an immersion blender this immersion blender is very close to the one I have and is very highly rated. Mine is about 10 years old now. Granted it only gets used a few times a year, but I am so glad it is the drawer when I need it.
Before I strain the pasta, I reserve a cup of pasta water in case I need to thin the sauce a little more after blending.
Once everything is cooked, you can mix the sauce into the fettuccini or place some in the bottom of the bowl and top with sauce.
This was so delicious! I honestly went back for seconds of just the sauce! And this made a large batch of sauce, so there was more than enough for seconds. If you have extra butternut squash you could easily double this recipe. Then reserve half for your Roasted Butternut Squash Alfredo and add a 2 more cups of chicken broth to the remaining sauce to turn it into butternut squash soup.
This was a little time consuming, but absolutely worth the time it took. It was the perfect comfort food for a cool fall day.
If you have extra butternut squash left check out my recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.
Hope you enjoy this delicious fall meal as much as we did!
XO,
Roasted Butternut Squash Alfredo
Notes
If you have a lot of sauce leftover, add some chicken broth to turn it into a delicious soup.
Nutrition calculated using Jovial Gluten Free Brown Rice Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 whole or 3 cups diced butternut squash
- 1/2 of a red onion
- 3 strips of turkey bacon
- 2 -3 cloves of garlic
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 1 bunch of sage
- 12 oz. gluten free fettuccini
- 1 c. oat milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 c. low sodium chicken broth
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise. Drizzle with EVOO, salt and pepper.
- Place cut sides down on cookie sheet lined with parchment.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- While squash is cooking, dice 1/2 of the red onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic and turkey bacon.
- Once the squash is cooked, heat a large saucepan over medium heat and start to cook your fettuccini according to package directions.
- Add 1 t. EVOO.
- Add onion, turkey bacon and garlic.
- While this is cooking scoop out 3 cups of butternut squash.
- Cook until bacon is crisp and onion is tender.
- Add 3 cups of butternut squash, milk, chicken broth.
- Strip the leaves from the thyme and add them to the pot.
- Add 1 bunch of sage.
- Simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Before draining pasta, reserve 1 cup of water to add to sauce if needed.
- Once sauce is cooked, let it cool slightly.
- Use an immersion blender to bring the sauce together.
- If sauce seems too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water.
- Place 1 cup of pasta in the bottom of the bowl and top with 3/4 cup of sauce.
- Serve and Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Roasted Butternut Squash Alfredo
Serves: 6
|
Amount Per Serving: 1 cup pasta with 3/4 cup sauce
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 352 | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 6 | 9.2% | |
| Saturated Fat 0 | 0 | |
| Trans Fat 0 | ||
| Cholesterol 14 mg | 4.7% | |
| Sodium 126 | 5.3% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 67 | 22.3% | |
| Dietary Fiber 4 | 16% | |
| Sugars 3 | ||
| Protein 10 | ||
| Vitamin A 152% | Vitamin C 26% | |
| Calcium 14% | Iron 7% | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
SWEET PINK PINEAPPLE
