Creamy Baked Pasta with Butternut Squash Ricotta Sauce

The most comforting fall and winter pasta full of Mediterranean flavors: Butternut squash comes together with ricotta cheese to make a delicious creamy sauce in this delicious pasta dish.

This butternut squash pasta hits all the right spots: creamy, savory -with a touch of sweet- and comforting. Pasta in itself is comforting, but when you add this creamy sauce, it elevates the dish to another level! And it is so easy to make.

Nutrition-wise it is quite healthy. I add plenty of squash so that there are more vegetables in here than pasta. This dish provides high amounts of immunity-supporting beta-carotene, an antioxidant that is converted to vitamin A, in addition to that you are also getting vitamin C, potassium, fiber, protein, and calcium.

I also saute the squash in a pan with a bit of olive oil, locking in the flavors instead of roasting it and then I blend it with ricotta cheese for a wonderful creamy sauce that is so good!

Ingredients

• Butternut squash: I find it easy to prepare and it cooks fairly quickly. But you can use other types of squash or even pumpkin.
• Ricotta: I use whole milk ricotta for this particular recipe. Ricotta is a fresh cheese that is naturally lower in fat than other types of cheese.
• Parmesan or Romano: You need aged cheese here to balance out the sweetness of the ricotta. I like to add a few shavings of cheese in addition to grated cheese.
• Pasta: I used a tubular pasta as it blends in well with the squash.
• Coarse sea salt: Brings out the flavors.
• Fresh ground pepper: Gives that kick to the dish.

How to make Creamy Baked Pasta with Butternut Squash Ricotta Sauce

Start by cooking the squash. Heat olive oil in a medium pan and sauté the garlic for a minute or two, then add the squash, stir, cover, and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes until soft and pierceable with a fork.

Empty the squash and garlic in a bowl and smash with a fork, add the ricotta, a pinch of salt and mix well. Place back in the pan.

Preheat oven at 400 F (200 C).

In the meantime, start boiling the pasta.

Once pasta is ready, empty the pasta in the squash-ricotta mixture with about 2-3 tablespoons pasta water and heat for a few minutes stirring well. Sprinkle with half of the grated cheese or shavings. Add fresh ground pepper and another pinch of salt for taste and mix again.

Grease a baking dish with olive oil and empty mixture in the dish, sprinkle the rest of the cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

You may also like these recipes

• Roasted Mediterranean Butternut Squash with Feta
• Roasted Butternut Squash with Pine Nuts and Cranberries
• Greek Crustless Butternut Squash Savory Pie

Photos by Elena Paravantes All Rights Reserved