Baked Butternut Squash Pasta and Muffins

I'm always on the hunt for good alternatives to meat-based meals. As we know from yet another study, the global food system is a big contributor to climate change, and food from animals causes more environmental harm than plant-based foods. Yesterday, my hunt took me to the depths of my own freezer.

I had two tubs of roasted butternut squash in the freezer, left over from previous recipes, and the moment had arrived to defrost the stuff and put it to good use.

First, I adapted a NYT Cooking recipe, "Cheesy Baked Pumpkin Pasta With Kale" by Sarah Jampel. I seized the opportunity to use vegetables I had over-bought earlier this week: broccoli and bok choy.

It was also a chance to use up some really dreamy ricotta (thank you Baker Street Market!) that was a day past its expiration date but still good. Very, very good indeed, actually!

Cheesy Baked Butternut Pasta with Veggies (serves 3-4)

8oz pasta (shells, penne, etc)

~1.5 cups veggies - kale, bok choy, broccoli, etc - chopped and thick stems removed

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan

1/2 cup coarsely grated Gruyère

1/2 cup coarsely grated Fontina or mozzarella

3/4 cup roasted butternut squash flesh

Up to 1 whole clove garlic, peeled

1/2  teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for pasta water

1/4  teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons ricotta for sauce, plus 1/3+ cup ricotta for topping

¼  cup vegetable broth

Spray/coat a shallow 1.5-quart baking dish with oil. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cook the pasta in the boiling water for 4 minutes, adding the veggies for the last minute. Drain the pasta and veggies, rinse under cold water, then transfer to a large bowl along with the cayenne and the chopped herbs. 

In a blender, add the squash, garlic, salt, pepper, 3 tablespoons of ricotta, and vegetable broth. Blend until smooth. Add the sauce to the bowl with the pasta. Add in most of the grated cheese, and stir to coat.

Transfer the pasta into the baking dish, then dollop the ricotta over top and sprinkle remaining grated cheese. Bake at 500 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, until brown and bubbly. If you want the pasta really browned, broil it for 3 to 5 minutes, watching carefully. Allow the dish to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and garnish with additional chopped herbs before serving if desired.

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The dish turned out really well for me. It's basically a glorified mac and cheese.

Pre-oven

Post-oven

Next, I made "Chai-Spiced Butternut Squash Muffins with Salted Honey Glaze" (Ambitious Kitchen), except I made them without the glaze, because I'm not ambitious like Ambitious Kitchen. That is also the reason I used melted butter rather than browning the butter; I lack the ambition to brown butter. These were definitely good enough to make again, and next time I'll try them with oil because I am actually so devoid of ambition that even just melting butter seems like too much effort.

I used regular all-purpose unbleached flour.

I made them in cupcake papers, but next time I'll spritz the insides of the paper with cooking spray, because the muffins stuck to the paper.

I halved the recipe and got 7 muffins out of the mix. 

Whenever I use the word "halve," I cringe at the memory of trying to say it in a presentation to about 200 people once, many years ago. It just sounded all wrong because how do you vocally distinguish it from "have"? After a few repetitions ("halve...halve...HALVE..."), I gave up and said "cut it in half." I'm sure I sounded like Porky Pig. Good times.