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.
If spicy is not your thing switch the Cajun seasoning out for some quality season-all.
Creamy Cajun Butternut Squash Rigatoni
2014-02-19 17:31:15
- 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.
By Christina Heggins
A Soulful Twist http://asoulfultwist.com/