Serves 4
Total time: 1 hour (plus cashew soak. 30 minutes if using canned butternut.)
Active time: 20 minutes
Whether you’re lugging them home from the farmer’s market, or plucking them out of your backyard garden, October means it’s time for butternut everything. If you’re a butternut maniac like I am, then this is good news. But perhaps in your zealous lust for the creamy orange flesh you’ve come down with a severe case of Butternut Burnout ™.
Yes, butternut in your breakfast, soup, muffins and in your salads…it has taken its toll. No more sweet gingery autumnal goodness, you say. No more spicy warm cinnamon goosebumps. Butternut Burnout ™ means a steady diet of kale and chocolate forever more or at least until Spring.
However, there is a way to combat BB. And that’s by treating it with savory elements, rather than sweet. This Roasted Butternut Alfredo is sure to combat all of the damage done to you by those butternut waffles. The squash is roasted first, and then pureed with cashew cream to make a thick, autumnal sauce, that is lush, creamy and most importantly, savory. White wine, some sauteed onions and garlic…oh yes, keep it coming. Butternut forever! Butternut for life!
Notes
~ An average butternut weighs like 3 lbs. You don’t need that whole 3 lbs for this recipe, but you should roast the entire thing anyway. To roast, Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a large chef’s knife, cut the the round part of the butternut from the long part. Slice the round part in half and scoop out the seeds. Brush or spray parchment lightly with oil and place squash pieces, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until squash is very tender. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the squash needed for this recipe. Save the rest for whatever you like: soup, muffins, or just mashed up with some ginger, maple syrup and cinnamon.
~ You can make this with a can of butternut or pumpkin puree, too. Of course you won’t have the roasted squash to put on top, but them’s the breaks. It will still be yum.
~ You can also make this with any winter squash, I’d imagine. Pumpkin, delicata, acorn, kabocha….all good choices.
~ I like to have extra sauce to serve with veggies and stuff. If you have no such need, then this sauce will probably be sufficient for an entire pound of pasta.
~ I would have loved to use fettuccine or linguine here, but I didn’t have any. I ended up using strozzapretti, but that’s a bit hard to find. Fusilli would be a great choice, or a smaller pasta like orecchiette. I can see penne working, too! What I’m trying to say, I think, is that this is a great sauce for any kind of pasta.
~ As always, you can soak cashews overnight. Or soak em all day. Just try to remember to soak ‘em in advance so that you’re not waiting for the cashews to make the recipe. If you have a Vitamix or Blendtec type million dollar blender, well, luck you! You can skip the soaking step.
Ingredients
1/2 pound pasta (see note)
Sauce:
1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups roasted butternut squash (see note)
2 tablespoons mellow white miso
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
For the rest:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, quartered and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dry rubbed sage
3/4 cup dry white wine
Several dashes fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
For garnish:
Extra roasted squash
Pepitas, or chopped pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts
Directions
Once the squash has roasted, bring a salted pot of water to boil for the pasta. When boiling, cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, drain the cashews and place them in a blender with the vegetable broth. Blend until very smooth. Rub sauce between your finger and when hardly any grittiness remains, add the roasted butternut, miso, nutritional yeast (if using) and lemon juice. Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to make sure you get everything.
While the sauce is blending, start the onions. Preheat a large cast iron pan over medium heat, saute onions in olive oil and a pinch of salt for about 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds or so, just until fragrant. Mix in the sage and pepper. Then add the wine and salt and turn the heat up to bring wine to a boil. Let boil for about two minutes, to reduce a little.
Turn down the heat to medium low. Now add the butternut cream to the pan, and stir to incorporate the onions and everything. Heat through, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. The sauce should thicken a bit. Taste for salt and seasonings.
Oooh, creamy!!!!
Set aside some of the sauce (you can reserve a cup or so for veggies if you’d like to throw some on top.) Add the pasta, and toss to coat. Serve topped with additional roasted squash and a sprinkle of nuts.
This looks amazing and I really want to make it tonight but only have sherry…would that be alright to substitute for the white wine? Thanks so much!
Yep, just use less because it’s stronger. 1/3 cup oughtta do it.
I have everything but the miso, do you think it would work without it?
Yeah, the miso adds the savory and saltiness, but perhaps a tiny bit of dijon (like 2 teaspoons or so) and extra salt will do the trick. If you’re using nutritional yeast, a little extra of that, too.
Thinking about making this but was wondering: can I substitute skinned almonds (soaked of course) for the cashews? On a budget and already have almonds in the house. I make almond cheese already so I know that they can be blended to super creamy like cashews… Recommendations?
Sure! Cashews get a bit more creamy, but it will be yum with almonds, too.
oooooh, yummy! I just made something similar after the Chopped challenge with my surplus roasted butternut squash. Best Mac ‘N Cheeze (and peas!) I’ve ever made! Yours is gorgeous.
Looks fab, Isa. I am not a butternut fan, unlike the rest of the world. And I also hate autumn (I know, I know). But I love pasta and the color orange so I’ll have to give this a go! Your recipe looks like it will transform me.
Butternut burnout?? Neva….just love all squashes equally,,,, great recipe,,,making!
this Looks great and probably saves a bazillion calories vs. your standard Alfredo
Genius. I am suddenly very hungry for this.
Saw this pop up on your Facebook feed. We went out to get a butternut squash and are making it tonight. Thanks!
oh this looks so yummy i can’t wait to make it! and butternut burnout? here in northern cal, we (i) are just getting starting with our winter squashes, so at the beginning of squash season this fits in so nicely! yummmmmm!!!!
This is on my next menu. I can’t wait. We’re going to roast a whole squash and use the extra to make some butternut squash/mushroom risotto later in the week.
The squash is in the oven. Do you have any recommendations for vegetable accompaniment?
Heck yes! This recipe sounds awesome!
Roasted the squash and assembling the ingredients! This is going to be delish! Thanks for another fabulous recipe. : )
I’m eating this as I type, and it is PHENOMENAL!!! I used the cheapest white wine I could find and it turned out great.
Excellent!
Argh!!! Went shopping already, cashews soaking an squash roasting…thought I had sage, but I don’t! Suggestions??
I’m in the process of making this right now! I had a mad hunt to find a butternut squash…both of my regular markets were out! I guess everyone’s making your recipe today!! 😉
Had this for dinner tonight – amazing! Threw in some broccoli & red pepper to up the veg. Was so good! Thank you!
Do you add lemon juice to the onions and to the cheese sauce? The directions don’t say to add lemons to the onions. Thanks!
Oops, only the sauce. I will fix it! Thanks for noticing.
I’ve been playing around w/ a few different versions of butternut pasta bakes (aka butternut mac and cheese), but didn’t think to add cashews (duh!) This sounds great!
just reading the recipe made me swoon. made this last night for dinner and, oh my, I nearly wept!
followed your recipe to the letter.
SO GOOD! so so so good! thank you, isa!
Yay, so happy you liked it!
This looks really good, thanks so much!! And I do have a butternut squash on my counter so I’m going to try this tonight.
I’m just wondering, what do you mean by “Slice the round part in half …”. Do you slice the whole squash in half or just cut off part of the round bottom?
Thanks again!
I was beyond inspired to make this last night and it turned out great! The flavor of the butternut squash was delicious. Also, I felt that the onions were absolutely crucial in countering the potential “baby food” texture. Next time I might try using almond milk with a tbl of Earth balance instead of vegetable broth for a creamier texture — autumn mac n cheese?
This is seriously *%$&ing good. Made last night with a butternut I had roasted the night before (sorry, soup, you’ll get your turn!). Paired with roasted broccoli. My non-vegan partner and I ate until we made ourselves sick it was so good. Brought leftovers for lunch and added a Field Roast apple-sage sausage, and WOW. that is a killer combo. Definitely going in the fall/winter rotation. Thank you!!
You have been a very busy girl……thank God!!! We all benefit from you genius!!! This looks wonderful!! Willl be making this VERY soon. I have an abundance of butternut from the garden! The butternut fairy was very good to me this year.
YUM, YUM, YUM! Just had it for dinner and it was delish!!!
Made this for dinner tonight… WOW. Wowowowow. Incredible.
I added chopped sundried tomatoes and fresh parsley at the end & poured the sauce over whole wheat penne.
Did I say wow?! 🙂
Thanks!
Even better with panko sprinkled over the top and baked until golden brown. Definitely adding this to the armoury.
Isa, so I made this last night and I can honestly say I never made a sauce quite like this one, so it was exciting and the result is great. We added some broccoli which made it just perfect. Husband loved it, too and the puppies were happy to have a little butternut squash for breakfast. The most amazing thing is that it takes so very little time if you used canned, so you have a fancy dinner in less than 30 minutes. Wonderful! Thank you!
Very cool, thanks for the feedback!
Made this on Sunday – just the alfredo part. Used it as part topping for a pizza. Lovely.
Does this freeze well, do you think?
This was so delicious!
Another killer recipe – thanks! Dinner Sunday, and leftovers yesterday, were awesome 🙂
This was outrageously good.
The only thing I changed was to sub fresh thyme for the sage–just because I had it around. I’ve learned not to mess with your recipes, because they’re always spot on.
So, thanks so much, Isa, for yet another scrumptious recipe! Can’t wait for your new cookbook :o)
I’ve just made this, following the instructions almost exactly and it is GORGEOUS! The kind of gorgeous that stops you from drinking your cup of tea because you don’t want the taste to go from your mouth, that’s how good it is. I used 75g pasta per portion as well as a good heap of roasted cauliflower and some chard that I boiled in with the pasta and there was just the right amount of sauce. I am so glad I didn’t have anyone to share this with tonight as it means I’ve got three more helpings. It also looks like it will freeze really well.
I really want to try this recipe but I cannot have alcohol due to liver disease. Any suggestions for substitutions for the wine?
oh Isa!!! This is an OMG if ever there was one. Followed recipe exactly including nutritional yeast. Wearehaving it over spaghetti w/green beans on the side. It is fantastic!
Thank you
Yay!
Looks amazing! I don’t have a food processor, could I use a handheld one?
You can but you have to be really good about letting the cashews blend long enough.
This recipe is beyond delicious! So good and happy I made extra sauce!
This was crazy good! Loved it! I used roasted pumpkin and at the end took the onion mixture and blended it with the sauce.
This turned out amazing, thank you so much for the recipe!
Made this with whole wheat penne and topped with little chunks of deeply roasted squash and toasted walnut. So freakin’ good. My husband spent a suspiciously long time cleaning up in the kitchen after dinner, and I discovered he had “just a taste”-d his way through my leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. I’m going to have to make this again soon . . . And hide the leftovers!
This was really good. Made a lot too, saving half to put on baked potatoes later this week!
Oh I’m *so* going to make this tonight!!! I love anything pasta and love butternut squash!
Thanks for sharing!!! 🙂
I made this for dinner a few nights ago and really enjoyed it! I used 2 tablespoons of almond butter instead of the cashews and it turned out fine. I’ll make this again. Thanks for the great recipe!
I doubled the batch in the blender and then only added the onions/wine to half – for that night’s dinner. I actually love the plain butternut/cashew broth sauce it is amazing on steamed broccoli – my mom came over and couldn’t stop eating my broccoli with squash/cashew sauce on it :~)
I am soooo excited to make this!!! Very clever warm and tasty dish for the season!!
I made this tonight and it was scrumptious! Thank you for sharing. This meal has made my partner very happy and excited. She was even licking her bowl – a rare thing for her to do.
I have a bunch of cashew butter.. Could I use that in place of the soaked cashews?
I just happen to have some roasted butternut squash and this sounds sooo much better than what I had planned! Can’t wait to try it!