This beautiful dish began as a Meatless Monday project. As written, though, the original recipe was unfortunately bland. Sorry, Bon Appetit. As is the case with so many of life’s little disappointments, bacon—and a little garlic and shallot—came to the rescue. So much for Meatless Monday, but our resident food guru regrets nothing, as he shouldn’t.
While the original version was a pleasant enough jumping off point, it needed a little extra TLC to elevate it from merely “ho-hum” to “ho-ly crap, get in my mouth, like, NOW!” The garlic and shallot make the base flavors of the dish richer and more complex, the red pepper flakes add a little note of heat and some much needed “oomph”, and the salty, smoky bacon does what bacon does—it imparts awesomeness.
In defense of the original intent of the dish, though, you could swap out the bacon with homemade vegan mushroom bacon (these addictive oyster mushroom “chips” are fantastic), and obviously you can substitute gluten free pasta. Everyone’s happy.
Adapted from Bon Apetit.
- 1 lb. pasta (I used gemelli, but any short, curly pasta will work)
- 1 medium butternut squash
- ¼ lb bacon (about 3 - 4 slices) thinly sliced
- 1 medium shallot, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely diced
- ¼ cup thinly sliced sage (plus a little extra for garnish)
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (plus a little extra for garnish)
- ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.
- Peel butternut squash, slice in half, and scoop out seeds and pulp. Shred squash on a box grater or in the food processor fitted with the coarse grating blade.
- In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 5 - 7 minutes. Remove bacon from skillet with a large slotted spoon and reserve. Discard all but 1 tbsp. rendered bacon fat and cook shallots and garlic over medium heat, stirring regularly, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add squash and sage and cook until squash begins to brown, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add pasta, Parmesan cheese, and ½ cup of pasta cooking liquid and stir to coat. Continuing stirring and adding pasta liquid, a few tablespoons at a time, until sauce fully coats the pasta. Stir in reserved bacon. Divide among bowls and garnish with additional Parmesan and sage.
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