I wanted to make another baked pasta dish that uses some other type of sauce instead of a basic red sauce, so I decided to make a butternut squash sauce for this baked penne. I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of sauce I was going to make at first, but then saw this beautiful, ripe butternut squash at the supermarket, and I immediately knew it was going to make the perfect base for my sauce.
On a side note, while I was at the grocery store buying a few things that I wanted to use in this baked penne recipe, I noticed something I thought was a little odd… In the same fridge, right next to the vegan sausage and other imitation meats, are packages of real sausage and bacon – the kind that are “organic,” “hormone free,” and “free range.” I’m not offended at all, but I can totally imagine someone accidentally going home with a package of real sausages because they look so similar to the vegan ones they’re right next to. The sausage we used for this recipe was so convincing, for a second I thought I might have accidentally grabbed the wrong package.
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large handful spinach
- 4 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened soy or almond milk
- 1 box penne or pasta of your choice
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 4 vegan Italian sausages
- 1/2 cup vegan mozzarella
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Toss cubed butternut squash in olive oil and place on baking sheet.
- Wrap garlic cloves (still unpeeled) in foil. Place on middle rack of oven, and put the baking sheet next to it.
- Remove garlic after 30 minutes and bake squash for 50 minutes or until fork tender.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Slice sausages at an angle and add them to the pan.
- Cook for 15 minutes or until they are browned on both sides.
- Add spinach and gently toss until slightly wilted.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Cook pasta until it is beginning to soften but is still a bit hard (the pasta will continue to cook in the oven so you don't want to cook the pasta all the way on the stove).
- Once the squash is done, place in a food processor with the garlic, soy milk, salt, pepper, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and nutritional yeast and process until it's smooth.
- In a large bowl, add the cooked pasta, 1/2 of the vegan cheese, vegan sausage and butternut squash sauce and mix until the pasta is evenly coated.
- Place in oven safe baking dish and top with the rest of the vegan cheese and breadcrumbs.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.
Notes
This recipe can easily be halved if you want to make a smaller amount as it yields quite a large casserole.
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