Roasted Tomato and Butternut Squash Pasta

If you don't already know from prior posts, I watch/tape Rachael Ray every single day. She was cooking with some roasted butternut squash the other day and it inspired me some how. So I went online to her site to search the recipe and then this other one came up, along with a few more pages. I had more of the ingredients and I liked how it sounded. I don't know if you could get away with this being one of her 30 minute meals, but if you multi-task it well, and maybe up the roasting temperature you can probably get it to 45 minutes. Not including cubing up that horrible butternut squash. I love it. But it really is a pain to cut up and peel.

I used Pam instead of the 4 Tbsp olive oil and just sprayed the veggies down a bit. Because that whole can doesn't have as many calories as the oil does, and we're going to Antigua here soon so we're watching that a bit. I had dried Thyme, fresh will work just fine though! I also cut the butter a little bit as well as the Saffron. It's pretty expensive and it was only 1 cup of liquid. You could use Veggie stock to make this vegetarian and no cheese for Vegan, depending on your pasta. I chose Penne because I had it in my pantry. I would recommend one with lines and maybe a Tube or shell shape to hold the sauce. It was super filling and we have a ton left over, because the picture was probably almost 2 servings.

Roasted Tomato and Butternut Squash Pasta
(Adapted slightly from Rachael Ray)

Ingredients

3 pounds tomatoes (I used on the vine)
1 medium butternut squash, seeded and diced into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Pam or other oil spray
1 Tbsp Dried Thyme
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 bulb garlic, top end cut to expose cloves
3 tablespoons butter
A pinch saffron threads, 10 threads or so
1 cup chicken stock
1 pound penne or pasta of your choice.
A fat handful of basil, torn or sliced. (I used about 10 leaves)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra if desired

Directions

Heat oven to 425F.

Arrange tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and the squash on another. Spray tomatoes with oil spray and season with salt, pepper and thyme. Roast tomatoes until charred at edges and burst, 30 to 35 minutes (or longer depending on size)

Spray squash with oil spray and season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. Roast squash to golden and tender, 25-30 minutes.

Drizzle garlic with oil, season with salt and pepper, and wrap in a foil pouch. Roast garlic to soft and golden, 40-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small pot over medium-low heat; add saffron and swirl. Let  saffron simmer with butter for a minute or two to help infuse. Add stock and keep at a low simmer.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. This is usually around 10 minutes, this way the pasta will absorb more of the flavours of the dish.

Remove vegetables, leave squash for a few minutes. Place tomatoes in a large bow (Large enough for all ingredients) and mash with basil.

Squish garlic cloves into the saffron & stock and stir in. Add to bowl of tomatoes, add pasta and squash, toss to combine.

Sprinkle with cheese to serve.