Yesterday I received my bivalent Covid booster, so naturally I came home and immediately got to roasting vegetables. Yeah, it’s unusual behavior; I know. While I don’t always know why I am the way I am, I do know that if I am not feeling well (or am even worried about not feeling well), I seem to subconsciously launch in to a wholly unnecessary food-prep task.

So that brings us to the whole butternut squash I had clustered with other inedible decorative squashes, because: seasonal decorations are delightful, yes? I got to delicately cutting it up, removing the seeds and core-stringy business, and very carefully cutting off the protective layer of rind. I usually just cut them in half and deseed them before roasting, because I’ve truly almost whacked my left thumb tip off too many times to count.

But in the kitchen scene yesterday, I decided I MUST have it cubed, so each square could be nicely caramelized from roasting and toasting with its sheet pan mates. The squash cubes were piled on the parchment lined sheet pan, with three diced purple onions heaped on top. I then seasoned everything with mushroom powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, toasted sesame oil, and a few glugs of olive oil, and spent a few minutes massaging the oils and spices in to the squash, then ensured the mixture was spread out in an even layer across the pan. The whole lot roasted at 400 degrees for around thirty minutes, until the onions were very dark brown, and the squash had lightly browned all over.

I dumped the still-sizzling mixture in to a waiting stock pot, and added roasted onion bouillon, two cups of water, and a half cup of heavy cream. I heated everything together until lightly boiling, then turned off the heat and used my immersion blender until everything was a smooth+consistent sauce texture. I set the sauce to the side, off of the heat, and got to boiling the pappardelle noodles, and picking a store bought rotisserie chicken clean. Once the noodles were almost fully cooked, I drained the water, and dumped the noodles in to the waiting stock pot (not worrying if a little starchy pasta water hitched a ride. From there I added the chicken pieces to the stock pot, and brought it all (sauce, noodles, chicken) to a simmer for a final few minutes, until the sauce thickened up a bit, and the noodles finished cooking. I grabbed my pasta fork, and heaped two bowls with the mixture, then topped each one with a dusting of extra sharp white cheddar and a few leaves of hand-torn basil.

To add some crunch, each bowl received a generous sprinkling of one of my favorites: pine nuts and pumpkin seeds that I toast together in a dry skillet, until lightly browned. Then I add a tsp of sesame oil, and a tiny tap-tap of ground chili power, then toast for one minute more until the oil has been absorbed, and your kitchen smells like a mildly-spicy hug.

The whole meal came together in about an hour, but a good portion of that time is the roasting of the vegetables. To speed it up, you could: roast the veggies ahead of time, and make the sauce right before serving, or get the sauce fully prepped and refrigerated on a weekend. Then, you’re ready to pull it right from the fridge to be poured atop your waiting cooked noodles, just after they’ve been drained, for a semi-homemade weeknight meal that will take you all of fifteen minutes.

One of my favorite things about this “recipe”, is that it’s not one. It’s highly customizable, and easily adjusts to your taste preferences, and what you have available in your kitchen. Vegan? No problem, just skip the cream+dusting of cheese or sub with a dairy-free alternatives, and skip the chicken. I had leftover chicken on hand to use up, but you could easily replace meat with roasted mushrooms, caramelized Brussels sprouts, or fresh/quartered cherry tomatoes. The sauce is thick, and pairs well with any pasta shape so no stress there, and ground sausage or pan seared salmon would also be an amazing protein pairing. If you end up with a scant amount of sauce leftover that isn’t worth freezing, try this one: make a quick bowl of instant ramen, and add the remaining sauce to the broth. It adds the perfect level of umami and thickens that instant broth packet+water, making your three minute dish taste like you spent the whole day creating that rewarding depth of flavor.

Our kiddo’s school has each class level host a weekday meal for the teachers and staff during their upcoming parent/teacher conference week. I think I’ll take this sauce, and use it as a layer in a vegetarian autumnal lasagna for our households contribution to the feast. I’ll have to double it and make a pan for our family as well so I can report back, but I think alternating this sauce+béchamel with roasted mushrooms, will be the make-ahead weekday meal we didn’t even know we needed on repeat.

Not recipe below.

Butternut Squash Sauce:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Peel, deseed and cube a 3ish lb butternut squash in to half-inch-ish pieces, set aside

3. Remove skins, and dice three small purple onions (or two large), set aside

4. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper (skip if you have to but prep the ole arm for some solid scrubbing), and dump prepped onions and squash in to a pile on the sheet.

5. Add a few glugs of olive oil, a glug of toasted sesame oil, and 2 tsp each of: porcini powder, smoked paprika, salt, fresh ground black pepper (don’t stress about the salt too much right now because you’ll season to taste at the end)

6. Massage oils and spices in to the vegetable mixture until everything is evenly coated, and it’s laid out in an even layer across the entire baking sheet.

7. Roast for 30ish minutes, or until the diced onion is very dark brown (just before burnt), and the squash has been caramelized+cooked.

8. Remove pan from oven, and use a silicon spatula to scrape all of those browned and burnt bits left behind in to your waiting stock pot. Don’t miss any of them, as that’s flavor mania waiting to shine in your sauce.

9. Add two cups of your preferred liquid stock, or a bouillon and the appropriate amount of water (I used two cups), and a half cup of heavy cream/non-dairy substitute and bring everything to a simmer.

10. Use your hand/immersion blender to puree everything smooth and set aside.

11. Cook noodles according to packed directions, draining just before they are fully cooked, and adding them directly to your stock pot with waiting sauce. Bring everything back to a gentle simmer (if adding chicken/meat do that now), and taste for final seasoning with salt and fresh ground pepper.

12. Heap sauce/pasta/protein mixture in to bowl, and top with fresh basil, and if you’d like the toasted pine nut/pumpkin seed topping I mention above.

This meal was soooo delicious, and we slowly enjoyed it while watching one of the most epic sunsets of our life from our dining room table. We lit candles, dimmed the lights, and opened some bottles of Hop Water (Miles can’t get enough of getting their own bottle of a special drink). We then proceeded to genuinely enjoy everything about those minutes together. I highly recommend you try your hand at creating your household’s version of this sauce, then sit back and enjoy some of the euphoric moments this meal seems to set in to motion.