Fall Vegetable Pasta Bake

Fall is here! And so I’ve declared it in our house – there are fires, slippers, cozy blankets, and comforting fall food.

First up on the list was a fall vegetable pasta bake, or, butternut squash and parsnip bake. I made this on a Sunday night, in anticipation of Cauli’s mom and grandma coming over. This is a good weekend meal to make because it takes a bit of time and makes enough for leftovers for the week.

True Confession: I’d never before this recipe ever eaten a parsnip.

True Confession follow up: Parsnips are very tasty.

I used a recipe I found online (here) and adjusted it a little bit, using Montalban cheese, adding chicken (Cauli fears I may turn our house into a Vegetable-only house), and omitting the crushed red peppers.

The bake turned out well, though I went wrong a few places: I added more pasta than the recipe called for and therefore should have upped the white sauce more; the fresh sage I used was a little past fresh and so the flavor of the herb didn’t come through as much (next time I’d use 1/4 tsp of dried ground sage); I would cook the parsnip and butternut squash longer than the 10 minutes called for to soften it up even more.

This is a good dish to have on hand. It can feed a lot of people, it’s interesting (butternut squash and parsnips are, in my opinion,  interesting), it can be made with meat (chicken, turkey, pancetta, or prosciutto would work well), and it’s a great comfort dish.

Note: When slicing away the tough peel of a butternut squash (your first experience with the actual vegetable in your kitchen), using the new Shun knives your dad gave you as a wedding present, mind the fingers. The knives work a little too well.