Butternut Squash Alfredo with Pasta, Spinach, and Mushrooms
When winter squash is in season, turn it into a hearty comforting dinner for two with Butternut Squash Alfredo with pasta, spinach, and mushrooms.
Once upon a time, this blog used to be my escape from adult responsibilities.
I could do and say what I wanted when I wanted, and nobody could stop me. When people asked me what my hobbies were, I would say baking and blogging.
Now that it has become my job, I need to find some new hobbies. Otherwise I was going to become a workaholic!
So far I’ve taken up Zumba classes and walking at the park, but is exercise really considered a hobby? “Hi, I’m Carla and like to exercise for fun.” Lame.
Then I started thinking about what really excites me outside of my kitchen and came up with…visiting farmer’s markets.
Seriously, I fail at this whole hobbies thing.
But it’s true – I LOVE scouting out new-to-me markets and staring at the abundance of fresh produce begging to come home with me.
Although I’ve been to plenty of markets, I have yet to find one that keeps me coming back for more (usually they are small with only 3-4 tents).
Regardless of the size, the same thing ALWAYS happens – I buy too much produce, especially when a new season begins.
Take fall for example – I was so excited over all the winter squash available that I bought three different kinds.
Squash isn’t small either, so three squashes translates into, like, 6 meals for me. Thank goodness they last long in the fridge.
One of my go to recipes when I buy butternut squash is this Butternut Squash Alfredo with pasta, spinach, and mushrooms. It’s hearty and comforting, perfect for winter.
I knew I wanted to make an Alfredo sauce with butternut squash puree, but I wasn’t feeling fettuccine. In fact, I really wanted penne.
Is it weird to crave a certain kind of pasta even though they all taste the same?
Butternut squash goes great with sage, but I don’t like sage. I was thinking of something green and came up with spinach. T
hen of course I add mushrooms to everything.
Move over, fettuccine, because there’s a new Alfredo dish in town.
Butternut squash is probably my favorite winter squash, yet I rarely cook with it. Why? Because it is a pain to cut those babies in half.
For the longest time, I had cheap knives, which are great if you are just starting out on a small budget.
Truth is I never realized how much knives mattered until I won a full chef knife set during a blogging conference. Knives – big deal, right? Wrong. Oh so wrong.
I was a little nervous since the chef’s knife is huge, but it changed everything. That sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? But it’s true.
Last year, I cut a butternut squash with my cheap knife where it felt like it was going to snap. This year, I cut a butternut squash without hesitation.
Ok so I still can’t cut a straight line, but it was almost effortless.
Rule of thumb – if your knife can’t cut a winter squash in half, then it’s not a very good knife.
Originally I roasted the squash first, but then I realized how time consuming that was for a weeknight dinner.
I since then reworked the recipe to cook the cubed squash on the stove. It then becomes soft enough for you to puree in the blender.
If you want to roast squash, check out my Vegan Stuffed Butternut Squash.
If you’re really, really tight on time and don’t have butternut squash on hand, you can substitute canned pumpkin puree.
Butternut Squash Alfredo with Pasta, Spinach, and Mushrooms
When winter squash is in season, turn it into a hearty comforting dinner for two with Butternut Squash Alfredo with pasta, spinach, and mushrooms.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
- 6 ounces frozen spinach
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup sliced white button mushrooms (4-5 mushrooms)
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 3 cups cubed butternut squash
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add a big pinch of salt then add the penne. Cook until al dente, about 10-12 minutes. Once al dente, add the spinach and cook for 1 minute. Drain everything together in a colander.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add the onion, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
- Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Add the butternut squash and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook until softened, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the lid and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the cream and Parmesan cheese. Bring to a boil.
- Transfer to a blender. Puree until smooth. If it's too thick, add more cream to thin it.
- Pour the sauce back into the skillet. Stir together the pasta, spinach, and mushroom mixture.
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Looks delicious and I like to call butternut squash the knife killer even when you have a good set! Also nothing wrong with visiting farmer’s markets but I still can’t believe you can’t find a good one now near you. There must be one somewhere.
To be fair, I’ve only been to about three near me since I moved. I did find great produce, but like I said, it was only 2-3 tents. Most of them are actually during the week and not Saturday mornings! There’s supposedly a good one downtown, but it’s during a weekday, and parking isn’t wonderful to begin with. I haven’t had the guts to quite venture down yet :) Ok after some quick research, looks like there’s an indoor one open all year round about 15 minutes from me (realistically probably 25-30 minutes because the direct route is closed for construction). And they have donuts.
Butternut squash is one of my favorite foods in the fall (well, ALL of the winter squashes, really). I’ve never added it to pasta, but that’s about to change!
Butternut squash is definitely my favorite, probably a little bit more than pumpkin since I don’t eat butternut as much. It works great in a tomato sauce too! I tried a recipe last year from another blogger where it was squash puree, tomato paste, and a few other things. Divine!
Nice!
The very BEST farmers market I have ever seen is in Madison Wisconsin. All four blocks around the beautiful court house are loaded with stalls overflowing with gorgeous brightly colored produce. Greens and yellows and reds all freshly picked early that morning (Saturday) As you do I buy way too much but I can’t resist the beauty and how I know it will taste.My husband follows behind me with a shopping cart that we take with us (you know one of those little old lady things?) and we load it up. I plan to try this recipe but I think I will peel the squash and boil it.
Four blocks?! Sounds like I need to go to Madison now! And boiling the squash would work as well. As long as the squash is cooked, either method would work :)
All lovely recipes. Thanks Carla
This is probably the best looking Penne Alfredo I have ever seen. It looks totally creamy, cheesey and of course delicious! Great recipe!
I have a friend who won’t eat any type of pasta but spaghetti. Don’t try to tell him that they all taste the same! He doesn’t buy it.
I love the heartiness of this dish, Carla! Pinning on my Recipes to Try board.
Your recipes are nice but your site is driving me nuts. It keeps jumping to the top of the page ehile i am trying to read it. Ugh
I’m sorry to hear that, although I’m not sure why it’s doing that. Are you on a mobile device?
Can you provide nutrition information with your recipes? It would really be helpful!
I’m not a nutritionist to provide that information, but what you can do is enter your ingredients into a calorie calculator such as My Fitness Pal and it will give you that info.