Easy Fall Pasta with Butternut Squash and Kale
Easy Fall Pasta with Butternut Squash and Kale is just the kind of dinner I want when the weather starts to cool down. You know those evenings when you want something cozy and seasonal, but you really don’t want to spend the whole night in the kitchen? This is your recipe! Sweet roasted butternut squash, crispy guanciale, and tender Tuscan kale come together with little shells of orecchiette and a generous shower of freshly grated Pecorino Romano. A handful of simple ingredients, a sheet pan, and a pot of pasta are all you need.
The butternut squash gets beautifully caramelized in the oven, the guanciale adds a salty, savory bite, and the kale brings just the right amount of freshness. It’s hearty without being heavy, and the whole thing feels a little more special than the effort involved would suggest. You can even use thick-cut bacon if guanciale isn’t easy to find. So, who’s ready for a delicious fall dinner that doesn’t require a sink full of dishes?
The beauty of this recipe is that most of the work happens in the oven. While it’s preheating, cut the guanciale and butternut squash into small cubes, toss them with olive oil on a sheet pan, and roast until the squash is tender and the guanciale is beginning to crisp.
Add the chopped Tuscan kale to the pan and return everything to the oven for another 10 minutes. The kale softens as it roasts, picking up some of the savory flavor from the guanciale and the sweetness of the squash.
Meanwhile, cook the orecchiette in a pot of generously salted water until al dente. Before draining, you can reserve a little pasta water in case you’d like to loosen things up when tossing everything together.
Return the pasta to the pot, add the roasted squash, guanciale, and kale, and toss everything with freshly grated Pecorino Romano. Finish with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
And that’s it! A cozy, seasonal pasta dinner with hardly any fuss. Serve it straight from the pot while it’s warm, with a little extra Pecorino on top. Now that’s my kind of weeknight cooking!
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Easy Fall Pasta with Butternut Squash and Kale
Makes: 2 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 ounce guanciale (or thick-cut bacon, if you can’t find guanciale), cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 8 ounces butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 pound orecchiette
- Freshly grated Pecorino Romano, to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
While the oven is preheating to 400°F, cut up the guanciale and butternut squash. Toss them onto a sheet pan, drizzle with the olive oil, toss them around a little, and roast for 30 minutes. Take the sheet pan out, stir in the kale, and place back into the oven to roast for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of generously salted water to a boil and cook the orecchiette according to the box’s instructions, usually 9 to 11 minutes or al dente. Drain and add back to the pot. Tip the contents of the sheet pan into the pasta pot and toss with the Pecorino Romano. Salt and pepper to taste.
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