Roast Butternut Pasta

It’s simple, but always tastes so good and is a real crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

500g peeled and diced Butternut

1 peeled and finely diced onion

2- 4 whole cloves of garlic

1 deseeded and finely sliced red chilli

1 tin diced tomato

1 tin tomato puree

1 small tin tomato paste

Pasta shells

½ cup cream

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180°c.

Roast the butternut, onion, garlic and chilli with olive oil for about 40 minutes or until the butternut is soft on the inside and a bit crispy on the outside (pop the grill on for a few minutes and keep stirring around the veggies so that they crisp evenly without burning). Start making your pasta and sauce about 30 minutes in.... Once out the oven, give the mix a good but gentle stir; you don’t want to mush up the butternut, but you want the sweet roasted garlic cloves to give everything a good coating!

Put your pasta on to boil (this amount of butternut mix will spread over 4 servings, or 2 choc-a-block servings, so adjust your pasta amount accordingly) - I firmly believe in the Italian method of making the pasta water as salty as the sea, and don’t fall for the olive oil drizzle myth- it serves no purpose, simply give your pasta a stir every few minutes to prevent sticking.

While the pasta is on the boil, pop the tin tomatoes, tomato paste, and a teaspoon or two of sugar into a pot and heat through. Add tomato puree to get your sauce to the desired consistency. For best results (albeit a tad more time consuming), add all the puree and let the tomato sauce reduce to a rich sauce. For the ultimate quickie (and admittedly the version I use most often on manic Mondays), buy a sachet of the All Gold Pasta Pronta tomato and chilli pasta sauce- it’s absolutely delicious, doesn’t have any of those synthetic flavourings or additives. Right, once you picked your sauce (I won't judge for taking the shorter method) let it cool slightly and add the cream; half a cup to be decadent, or just a drizzle for the diet.

Drain your pasta, but don’t shake off all the gorgeous salty water- leaving some of it in the shells helps the sauce bind with the pasta and seasons the dish so you won’t have to add any salt. Add the sauce and stir in the butternut mix, serve hot with a mixed leaf salad on the side J

Want a vegan version? Simply use Orley Whip or a dairy substitute in place of the cream. Even lighter for the diet? Use fat-free Bulgarian yoghurt in place of the cream, and whole-wheat pasta for a fibre boost.