Times around here are a changin'. We're in the midst of colored leaves, cooler weather, and a vacant garden except for some winter squash. The farm is hustling around harvesting their corn and preparing for soy bean harvest. And I'm in the opening stages of a new job.
This is my 3rd job in 4 years. I don't say that with pride, but with hope and exhaustion. I've been working at an acute care clinic for the past year, and it was such a pleasant change from my previous position. I work 12 hours shifts, and only 3 per week, so that has allowed me the chance to be a stay-at-home Mom, if only part time. And oh, I've enjoyed those 4 days per week home with Molly. And I've loved the extra time for cooking and baking. But the days are long, and it's hard on Molly. And it's hard my my husband. And it's so hard for me. I can't imagine having a new baby with this job, and being away for 12 or more hours. We miss dinners and weekends together. I've missed several family parties and holidays. And I've missed Primary Care. But it's back to Monday-Friday, and the world of the working Mom, which I have grown to dislike. But we've prayed about this, and we really feel that we're moving in the right direction. To get some more debt paid off, to eat dinner together everyday. I think this is a part of His plan.
But I'm going to miss the multiple step meals I've grown accustomed to preparing 4 days a week! And this one, is by far, my favorite to date. We planted some butternut squash this year, and they are just beautiful. But wow, I didn't feel like I missed my workout today- those things are a chore and a half! I wanted to dice the butternut squash, to get all sides caramelized while roasting. And that meant a lot of work.
This dish is something I pretty much threw together as I was thinking (drooling) about my favorite meal at Bravo-- it's a stuffed pasta with diced sauteed sweet potatoes and brown butter sage sauce. It's fantastic. So I tried to replicate it, minus the stuffed pasta and subbed the sweet potato for butternut squash. It was still a huge hit around here!
Butternut Squash Pasta with Sage Brown Butter
1 large butternut squash
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1/4 c olive oil
salt and pepper
1 lb pasta (I used a whole wheat rotini)
5 tblsp butter (I used salted)
20-25 sage leaves
1 c fresh ricotta
Preheat oven to 400F. Clean and peel butternut squash, remove seeds. Dice squash and onion into 1 inch cubes. Mince garlic. Toss squash, onion and garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 minutes, until squash is tender and caramelized on all sides (wait until you smell this!). With 10 minutes or so left in squash roasting, boil pasta as directed on package label. Roughly chop sage. Add butter and sage to sautee pan over medium heat, and cook until you begin to hear crackling and butter turns a light shade of brown- almost toffee colored (do not burn butter, this happens quickly!) Remove from heat. Toss hot, drained pasta with sage brown butter and roasted butternut squash, onion and garlic. Serve with a dollop of ricotta cheese.
There aren't many times that my husband doesn't ask for meat with a meal.
This is one of them.
Brown butter= crowd pleaser.
I'm all ears with butternut squash suggestions, especially dicing/peeling ones!
Enjoy this first weekend in October!
Lisa
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