Butternut squash pasta sauce
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Makes about 850ml (enough for 4–6 portions)
This silky smooth and creamy pasta sauce is real crowd-pleaser and makes a perfect speedy supper for busy weeknights.
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, quartered and seeds removed (about 1kg/2lb 4oz)
- 4 shallots, unpeeled and left whole
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3 tbsp olive oil, for drizzling
- 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled and left whole
- 250g/9oz ricotta
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 unwaxed lemon, juice and zest
- ¼ nutmeg, freshly grated
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180 Fan/Gas 6.
Arrange the squash pieces in a roasting tray along with the shallots and rosemary. Drizzle over the olive oil to coat and season generously with salt and pepper. Cover with kitchen foil and roast for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil from the tray of vegetables and tuck the garlic cloves into any cavities of the squash. Return to the oven to cook, uncovered, for another 20 minutes.
Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven, and when cool enough to handle, squeeze the shallots and garlic cloves from their skins into the bowl of a food processor. Use a spoon to scoop the flesh from the butternut squash into the food processor too (discard the skins and rosemary). Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and blend to combine until smooth (you may need to scrape the sides down a couple of times with a spatula). Alternatively, add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and blend with a hand-held stick blender until smooth.
Scrape the sauce into a sterilised jar or clean reuseable container and keep covered in the fridge for up to 5 days before using.
Recipe tips
Squash can vary in water content so you may need to add a splash of water at the end to achieve a looser consistency.
