Spaghetti with Squash and Spinach

Pasta tossed with seasonal vegetables is weeknight cooking at its best. I’ve posted countless spring and summer versions of this on The Messy Apron, but not so many of the fall and winter variety. That’s where this simple and delicious recipe comes in.

This pasta toss is loaded with roasted winter squash, spinach sautéed with garlic, and a handful of walnuts. I like the sweetness of the squash combined with the earthiness of the spinach and crunchy walnuts. I also put in a splash of cider vinegar, but lemon juice, which was in the original inspiration recipe, might be even better.

In order for this dish to be utterly simple to throw together, the squash needs to be handled ahead of time. The way I managed it was to peel and cube the squash one day, roast it with olive oil and salt another day, and keep it in the refrigerator until I was ready to make pasta. This requires some planning ahead, but that’s the only way I can get just about anything interesting going. 

There are lots of ways to vary this, of course. I used a red kuri squash, but butternut would be even easier to peel and cut, and Hubbard or other similar sweet winter squash would be great, too. You could replace the spinach with kale or chard, or with any greens you like. I love the walnuts here, but they don’t need to be there if you don’t want them, or you could replace them with something like pine nuts or pumpkin seeds. I added a garnish of parmesan cheese to each serving of my spaghetti, but you could easily make it vegan by just leaving it off.

As a reward for my successful planning and preparations, I also have the rest of my squash all ready to go for another recipe. I’m thinking of this Squash and Pinto Bean Chili from the archives for some warm comfort as these autumn nights get colder. Mmmmm…..good eating this week!

Spaghetti with Winter Squash, Spinach, and Walnuts

Based on a recipe from Lazy Cat Kitchen

2 cups cubed (about 1-inch), peeled winter squash

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon coarse salt, divided, plus more for the pasta water

½ pound spaghetti or other long pasta

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon crushed chile flakes

4 cups fresh spinach, chopped if leaves are large

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

½ cup chopped walnuts

Chopped fresh parsley and grated parmesan for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine the squash, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and ½ teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Toss together to coat the squash well. Transfer to a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. Roast at 400 F until tender and lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from the oven and set aside. (This can be done ahead of time. Cover and chill until ready to use.)

2. Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until it is as tender as you like to eat it. Drain and keep warm.

3. In a large saute pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, about 1 minute, or until fragrant and just beginning to brown. Add the crushed chile flakes and cook about 15 seconds more.

4. Add the spinach and remaining ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach is completely wilted. Stir in the cooked squash. Add the cooked spaghetti and cider vinegar and toss to combine well.

5. Stir in the walnuts and remove from the heat. Garnish each serving with parsley and parmesan if desired.

Makes about 4 main dish servings.

Other recipes like this one: Pasta with Shredded Winter Vegetables, Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce

Cheesy Baked Pasta

This dish is the ultimate weeknight fare for me right now. It can be made in pieces, or cobbled together from leftovers, then baked and served in the kind of time that allows for a meal earlier in the evening than just before bedtime.

I made a pot of Basic Tomato Pasta Sauce one evening, and enjoyed it on pasta the next evening. I then took a third evening to cook some more noodles, shred some mozzarella, chop some olives, and pile everything together in a casserole dish. I’d done this before, of course, with leftover pasta sauce, but this time I measured the ingredients so I could write up a recipe.

As a recipe, this is not very concrete. I usually just use whatever I have on hand. The basic recipe below is a good representation of what usually happens, although sometimes I also use leftover cooked noodles, or stir in other things. Most commonly, I’ll add or replace some of the mozzarella with other cheeses, such Parmesan or ricotta.

Some other good additions would be sautéed bell peppers and onions, sun-dried tomatoes, leftover cooked winter squash or other roasted vegetables, sautéed greens, or cooked or cured meats. Think favorites pasta and pizza toppings here. A good combination might be pepperoni, cooked Italian sausage, and sautéed peppers for a pizza-flavored pasta bake. Or sneak in just about any vegetable you’re trying to make yourself or someone else eat, such as shredded or sautéed zucchini. I used black olives, but you could use Kalamata or even green olives. Add some feta and capers for a whole new flavor profile. 

You can make this dish up a day or two ahead of time. Cover it and refrigerate it until you wish to bake and serve it. Keep in mind that if you are starting with a cold dish, you will need a longer baking time to turn it into a properly hot dish. You can even make as much of this as you want and warm up the leftovers all week if you are experiencing busy times and want to streamline weeknight dinners, or liven up your reheated lunch possibilities.

Mozzarella and Olive Baked Pasta

I used Basic Tomato Pasta Sauce to make this dish

Add, subtract, mix and match your favorite pizza and pasta dish ingredients to enhance this to your personal taste.

This dish can be made ahead and refrigerated for a day or two. Increase the baking time if starting with a refrigerated mixture.

8 ounces uncooked short cut pasta (such as rotini or penne)

2 ½ cups chunky tomato-based pasta sauce (your favorite)

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup chopped black olives

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a shallow 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray, or grease it with olive oil.

2. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until it is slightly firmer than you like to eat it. (It will cook more in the oven and you don’t want the pasta to get too mushy.) Drain the pasta and transfer it to a large bowl.

3. Add the pasta sauce, 2 cups shredded mozzarella and olives to the pasta. Stir together to combine well.

4. Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, or until the mix is bubbly and the cheese is melted. Uncover and bake about 5 more minutes until the cheese on top is bubbly, or however you like it. Let stand about 5 minutes and serve.

Makes about 6 main-dish servings.

Other recipes like this one: Spaghetti Pie, Chicken and Vegetable Tetrazzini, Corn and Bean Skillet Pasta

Zucchini Ricotta Carbonara

My garden is still producing zucchini a little bit faster than I can use it. I’m continuing to make and freeze zucchini bread, but I’ve got to stuff zucchini into a few more places if I’m going to get rid of it all.

This is a pretty simple pasta application, inspired by pasta carbonara with chopped zucchini thrown in. Instead of the usual creamy, just-cooked scrambled eggs, however, this dish has a big scoop of ricotta cheese. I don’t know if the ricotta is any less heavy than the eggs would have been, but it sure is good.

The zucchini and ricotta are both fairly mild-flavored ingredients, so the bacon is really allowed to take over. And it’s everywhere in this dish. Not only is cooked bacon tossed in with the pasta, cheese, and zucchini, but the zucchini is cooked in rendered bacon fat, and some of that fat is stirred into the ricotta before it even goes into the dish. The original recipe called for some olive oil instead, but I thought, “Why? I have all this bacon fat!”

I was surprised by how much I liked this simple supper dish. I was afraid that a combination of relatively bland ingredients like ricotta and zucchini would just end up weirdly mushy and pasty. It’s not, however. In fact, the cheese is creamy with the pasta and the zucchini, properly cooked, is just firm and fibrous enough to add some chew. And as far as flavor goes, it’s bacon all the way. I suppose that’s just fine.

Zucchini Ricotta Carbonara

Adapted from Fine Cooking Aug/Sept 2014

8 ounces linguine (or other long pasta)

3 slices thick-cut bacon (or 4-5 thin slices), coarsely chopped

1 cup ricotta cheese

½ teaspoon black pepper, divided

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 pound zucchini, halved lengthwise (or quartered if large) and thinly sliced

¾ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil, plus more for garnish

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Keep warm.

2. While the pasta is cooking, place the bacon in a large (12-inch) skillet. Cook over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon and drain on a paper towe1.

3. Pour about 1 tablespoon of the rendered bacon fat into the ricotta cheese. Add ¼ teaspoon black pepper to the ricotta mixture and stir well. If there is more than about 3 tablespoons bacon fat in the pan, pour off enough to leave just about 3 tablespoons. Return to the heat.

4. Add the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring constantly for about 30-45 seconds, or until fragrant, but not yet browned. Add the zucchini and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 8 minutes.

5. Add the cooked pasta to the pan. Stir in the ricotta mixture, basil, and remaining pepper. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking water if necessary to loosen the mixture. Stir in the Parmesan and cooked bacon, tossing all together to combine well. Serve sprinkled with additional Parmesan and basil.

Makes about 4 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Pasta Carbonara with Garlic Scapes and Garlic Chives (substitute the garlic scapes with a few cloves of minced garlic); Pasta with Zucchini, Corn and Fresh Mint; Pasta with Yellow Squash, Corn and Bacon