This delicious bowl of pasta is made of only SIX ingredients!
You don’t need a bunch of time, effort, or expensive ingredients to accomplish this simple dish.
It’s packed with a healthy veggie and you can totally make this vegan by replacing the bacon fat with some vegan butter/margarine, and swapping out the milk for coconut milk.
Use whole wheat pasta for even more nutrition. The fact that the sauce is made of butternut squash and I used 1/2 cup of cheese instead of my usual 1 cup makes it skinny enough for me!
The beautiful butternut squash adorn the sauce with sweet and earthy flavors. Plus I added some kick with Cajun seasoning and Parmesan cheese. The creaminess coming from both the milk and butternut squash.
These six ingredients all worked together to create a satisfying and delightful dish.
Use any pasta you like but the Rigatoni really holds onto the sauce.
If spicy is not your thing switch the Cajun seasoning out for some quality season-all.
Enjoy!
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups roasted and smashed butternut squash
- 5 slices thick apple-wood smoke bacon
- 1 Tablespoon Cajun or creole seasoning
- 16 oz rigatoni pasta
- 1/2-3/4 cups grated Parmesan Cheese
- Cook pasta to al dente.
- Cut up bacon. Brown bacon and render fat.
- Move crispy bacon bits to a paper towel lined plate.
- Put roasted and mashed butternut squash in the pot with the rendered bacon fat.
- Add Cajun seasoning and mix everything together while continuing to cook.
- Mix in milk.
- With an immersion blender, blend the milk and butternut squash until you reach a smooth consistency. I like some body to my sauce so I don't blend it very much.
- Mix in your Parmesan cheese.
- Add cooked pasta and if sauce is too thick add some pasta water to thin it out.
- Mix in 3/4 of the bacon bits and use the rest for garnish when serving.
- For a less spicy dish switch out the cajun seasoning for some season-all in stead.
This rigatoni is absolutely fabulous!
Thanks Jocelyn!
This looks amazing! I’m going to add this to my list of things to try!
KalleyC recently posted…Friday’s Vlog on…: 6 Tips To Help You Start Your Vlog
It’s really worth it you barely miss all the cheese and butter! Thanks Kalley
Oh my. I’m drooling over your rigatoni. Looks marvelous!
Susie Lampman recently posted…pokertrainingreport.com
Thank you Susie you should definitely make some it’s delicious!
seriously need to dive through my computer with a fork and shove this in my mouth – looks AMAZING
Christine @ Cooking with Cakes recently posted…Blue Cheese Broccoli & Tomato Gratin with Prosciutto
Thanks Christine! This dish makes it easy to get my veggies in!