Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

In the last several years, butternut squash has become one of my favourite vegetables.

Even when it isn’t autumn, I like to slow cook them until they become soft and squishy. Their almost-sweet taste makes them a great addition to many pasta dishes. And when you combine them with one of my other favourite things – cheese – you’re onto a winning combination.
For some reason, when the weather’s bad outside I always crave baked or cheesy pasta dishes. This dish combines the both of those elements.

I created it after taking inspiration from one of Jamie’s recipes, however there were both positives and negatives with the end result, as this was the first time I’d ever cooked this dish. (Hey, I never said I was a masterchef, just a very enthusiastic cook. Is there such a thing as a home tutor for cooking? If there is, maybe I need them to teach me about which types of pasta should be used for which dishes).

The main issue I had was that I used whole wheat penne pasta, which I love, but which we all know takes longer to cook than regular white pasta. I didn’t factor this in to either the cooking time or liquid used to create the sauce when I was putting it all together. Next time, I’ll use plain penne pasta.

Also, I didn’t feel that there was enough sauce in the dish. It was very tasty and hearty, but I do like to have at least a little creamy sauce with a baked pasta so that it doesn’t feel too dry. But again, this could have been because I used whole wheat pasta.

Apart from these two things, the flavour in the dish was great and it made enough pasta to last two of us for two nights (with very generous portions each time).

Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
2 x 400 g tins of plum tomatoes
1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into cubes
1 litre vegetable stock
3 tablespoons ricotta cheese
500 g dried penne
1 handful Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
150 g mozzarella
Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F. Put a small amount of olive oil in a pan and fry the garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil, making sure to squash the tomatoes into chunks with your spoon. Drop in the butternut squash and allow to simmer for around 30 minutes or until nice and soft.

Season with salt and pepper and then stir in the ricotta and the vegetable stock. While that’s bubbling, set a pan of water on to boil and cook your packet pasta, but drain it a minute or two before the time it says on the packet (because it will be cooked again in the sauce in the oven). Once drained, combine it with the butternut sauce.

Rub an ovenproof dish with olive oil and spoon in the pasta and sauce. Cover with torn pieces of the mozzarella and some fresh parmesan. Bake it in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.