Pasta With Butternut Squash and Sage Brown Butter

Great weekday dinner.

Cook 25 mins
Active 30 mins
Total 25 mins
Serves 4 to 6 servings [3—4 imo if it's a main course]

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (30ml)
• 1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (450g; about 1/2 large squash) [TBH I think you could just use the whole squash and it'd be fine?]
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (30g)
• 1 small shallot, finely minced (about 1 ounce; 30g)
• 1 handful fresh sage leaves, finely minced (about 1/2 ounce; 15g)
• 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon (15ml)
• 1 pound small cupped, tubular, or ridged pasta such as orecchiette, penne, farfalle, or rotini (450g)
• 1 ounce grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (30g)

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large stainless steel or cast-iron skillet over high heat until very lightly smoking. Immediately add squash, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring and tossing occasionally, until well-browned and squash is tender, about 5 minutes.

Add butter and shallots and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until butter is lightly browned and smells nutty, about 1 minute longer.

1 minute isn't very long! Be careful not to overdo this step because you need some hot butter that hasn't been absorbed for the next step.

Add sage and stir to combine (sage should crackle and let off a great aroma). Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Set aside.

Theory: push the squash to the side and make a pool of butter in the center for frizzling the sage so it has a second before getting mixed in with the squash.

In a medium saucepan, combine pasta with enough room temperature or hot water to cover by about 2 inches. Season with salt. Set over high heat and bring to a boil while stirring frequently. Cook, stirring frequently, until pasta is just shy of al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain pasta, reserving a couple cups of the starchy cooking liquid.

Add pasta to skillet with squash along with a splash of pasta water. Bring to a simmer over high heat and cook until the pasta is perfectly al dente, stirring and tossing constantly and adding a splash of water as needed to keep the sauce loose and shiny. Off heat, stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and texture with more pasta water as needed. Serve immediately, top with more cheese at the table.