It was a rollercoaster of a week.
On Friday, I shipped my huge bundle of book edits back to New York. A definite high point this year. Strangely, I enjoyed the meticulous process of sifting through each chapter line by line. By the time I finished almost every page was scribbled with red ink and I squeezed in a few photo re-shoots too. I lived and breathed that document day and night, as you might have guessed from my blog absence. After a few curse words at the Staples print & copy centre (never underestimate how many times a multi-thousand dollar printer will jam…), I even printed my own copy should anything happen to the one in the mail. You will not get me this time, postal service!
Naturally, I went straight to the grocery store and bought some cheesy kale chips and a dark chocolate bar to celebrate. Living. it. up.
If that wasn’t exciting enough, we found the house of our dreams last week. We’ve been looking for almost a year now. It almost felt too good to be true and I barely slept all week. This house has everything on our list with several renovation projects for us to tackle in the future. Everything felt like it was falling into place after a challenging year. We’ve been dealing with some rental issues lately and we’re just ready to move on and settle down. Plant roots. Build another vegetable garden. Storage space! This house was the one, we were certain. I’m a bit superstitious, so I didn’t even tell my family about it because I didn’t want to jinx it.
Well.
We lost the house. It was scooped up by a higher bidder. Nothing new in this hot housing market, but it’s still tough to swallow when you get your heart set on something. We had already spent a few days planning and preparing ourselves for a quick move, taking measurements, dreaming, the whole shebang, and then it was all over just like that. I went from cloud nine to feeling rejected and defeated all within a few hours. Back to square one.
I tried to cheer us up by playing the “let’s list all the things we don’t like about the house” game. A solid effort, but we weren’t fooling anybody. Love is blind.
This dish, on the other hand, was just what we needed – a hug in a bowl, and a reminder that time heals all wounds. So what if I burned the broccoli to a crisp and overcooked the pasta. It was still major comfort food when nothing else seemed to help. Plus, I discovered that over-cooked crispy broccoli tastes a lot like kale chips. Yes, I ate every one straight off the pan. Weird, but good.
In the end, I realized that nothing good ever comes out of a full moon eclipse, especially if you happen to be pms-ing. Unless of course this meal is the end result. Then it’s not a total loss.
Onward and upward, keep the faith, may better things come to those who wait, and all that cliché jazz… :)
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Smoky Butternut Squash Sauce with Pasta and Greens
Yield
4-6
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This recipe is adapted from my Butternut Squash Mac and Cheeze recipe from 2011. While the former version is a huge hit on the blog, some of you didn't like how sweet the sauce is. I've been playing around with this recipe every time I make it. This version I'm sharing today is still quite sweet thanks to the butternut squash and cashews, but I've tried to balance it out better with some smoky seasonings like liquid smoke, chili powder, smoked paprika, and some hot sauce for a kick and more depth of flavour. It's a big hit in this house. Feel free to adjust the various seasonings to taste. This sauce is also great heated up and poured over roasted vegetables and brown rice. Use it any way you see fit! I think you'll be surprised by how creamy and satisfying it is all without a lick of butter or oil.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 1 (3.5-4 pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced (or two (450g) packages chopped squash)
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional, but recommended)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke
- hot sauce, to taste
- 1 (450g) package mini shell or macaroni pasta (use gluten-free, if desired)
- roasted broccoli or sauteed kale leaves, to stir into pasta
Directions
- Add cashews in a small bowl and cover with water. Soak overnight or for at least 3-4 hours, until soft and plump. Drain and rinse before use.
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. See note about prepping squash below. Spread out chopped squash on sheet and drizzle with oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt. Roast for 30-40 minutes, flipping once half way through baking, until squash is fork tender. Let cool for at least 5 minutes.
- Add the soaked and drained cashews, water, garlic, nutritional yeast (if using), lemon juice, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, and 2 cups of cooked squash into a high speed blender. Blend on high until smooth. Now add the salt, liquid smoke, and hot sauce to taste and blend again.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. If using broccoli, kale, or other vegetables, roast or sauté those too.
- Add the drained pasta back into the pot. Pour on your desired amount of sauce and stir to combine. Stir in the cooked vegetables, if using. Cook over medium until heated throughout and serve immediately.
- Leftover sauce can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 1 week or so in the fridge. It's great poured on roasted vegetables too!
Tip:
Time saver: You can also simply slice the squash in half, remove seeds, and roast the two halves rather than chopping the squash up. The butternut squash sauce makes 2.75 cups.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Wow this looks fantastic! Can’t wait to go home for break to give this a try (unless you can come up with a way to roast squash in a dorm room microwave…). One question though- the recipe says to only add 2c of the roasted squash. What do you do with the remaining roasted squash?
Hi Faye, You mix the leftover squash into the pasta before serving (if you like, that is!)
Wow!!!! Just made this for dinner and ate WAY too much! SO delicious!!! Love the smoked paprika and liquid smoke – what a comfort food for a chilly, windy night. Thanks, Angela!
The sauce turned out great! I added a bit of almond milk to make it creamier while blending and it tastes amazing! Thanks for the recipe :-)
I made this with hokkaido, which is a bit more hearty. Loved it!
I’ve been having food-envy since i first saw this, and I finally made it! It did not disappoint! I am so glad I bought some liquid smoke, it made the dish :) Pretty sure I’m about to become reallllly obsessed with that stuff :) Thanks for another amazing recipe!
Hi Angela!
I’ve tried this recipe last night and it turned out great! :) I couldn’t find nutritional yeast, so I did it without, but still it tastes amazing and I have some left in the fridge for later this week. Thanks for amazing recipes, all the best!
Kristina
I’m so glad to hear that Kristina! Thanks for letting me know :)
So I’ve been using your blog to plan my meals the last couple of weeks. This is the first recipe I used and it is seriously out of this world! It looks just like velveeta, but thank goodness it doesn’t taste like it… it is the bomb! I’ve still got some of the sauce left and might try it on a loaded baked sweet potato. Your recipes make being vegan incredibly simple. Thank you!
Hey Katie, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know :)
I feel your pain on the house. Had the same thing happen to us this summer, only we didn’t really get outbid, the seller just liked the other buyers better. We had our contractor over before making the offer, and I think the seller didn’t like the thought of us doing anything to their house. I was crushed for 6 weeks, until the house actually closed. Then it was time to move on. Another came on the market and we jumped at it immediately. The realtor and my husband kept telling me how much better this one was, but I wouldn’t have any of it. But now that the renovations are under way, they were so right. This is the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood. The best one is sure to come your way soon. Good luck.
Mmm! This turned out really nice! I did not have any liquid smoke, but the paprika was good enough. Also had no lemons, so I added 1/2 tbls rice vinegar instead. And topped it with roasted kale!
Hi! I found this recipe on Pinterest last night and miraculously had all the ingredients (except cashews), it looked so delicious I had to make it for dinner tonight! It did not disappoint! Yummm. I too love slightly burned roasted broccoli. So delicious.
There was only one little snag: I followed all the instructions but mine came out very thick, more like the consistency of ultra smooth mashed/whipped potatoes than sauce. I even went back through the ingredients/directions a couple times to make sure I didn’t miss anything! The only differences I could see is I only soaked my cashews for about 4 hours rather than overnight, and I used a food processor instead of a blender. It’s still delicious, but a bit heavy in addition to pasta. Not sure what I did wrong! Do you have any suggestions for thinning it out? I was hesitant to add more water for fear of watering down the flavor…
Hey Nicole, My guess is that maybe you just packed your squash in more tightly that I did. Reducing the amount of squash would definitely thin out the sauce a bit more next time. Hope this helps & glad you enjoyed it!
Made this tonight with farfalle. I subbed almond milk for the water and truffle salt for the salt, and I layered on the Sriracha. It tasted amazing. I would probably water down the sauce just a bit next time, although I’d have to be careful with the proportions.
Thanks!! :D
Just made this for dinner tonight! It was so amazing! I’m so glad I now have an alternative to regular cashew cream pasta. This was really good served over Trader Joe’s Quinoa Fusilli Pasta! My boyfriend is now a lover of butternut squash thanks to this recipe. His previous favorite vegetable was a potato so it’s nice he’s finally found a new fave! Thanks for another amazing recipe :)
I plan on doing this soon maybe adding chickpeas instead of cashews possibly! Tonight I’m making the date and butternut smoothie but adding chickpeas and pour it on top of quinoa!
I recreated this dish earlier this week and used a food processor for the sauce. It’s the best vegan pasta dish I’ve tried to date. Delicious!! Can’t wait to share it with friends and family!
Can someone please tell me the portion size, calories, sugar and protein for this reciepe?
I tried this recipe last night. Tasted the sauce and thought, “OMG I want to put this s*#t on EVERYTHING!” This was my first vegan style mac n cheese and it was better than any others I have tastes. I will probably make the sauce for things like crackers and tortilla chips for snacking :) Thanks for the awesome cheezy tasting recipe!
LOL is it weird that I heard the old lady from the Frank’s commercial saying that? So funny. I could put it on anything too! Even savoury oatmeal…yum.
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was fantastic! Thanks for another incredible recipe (your creamy avocado pasta is one of my kids’ most requested meals)!
This is soo delicious!! Being vegan for over a year now I’ve really started missing mac n cheese (especially around this time of year) and this did the trick! Even my husband (a non vegan) loved it! Thanks for another amazing recipe!! :-)
You are the ‘Butternut Cheese Queen’!! This stuff is like crack! I can’t stop making/eating eat. Last week was the first time i bought a butternut squash ever, and now it’s most definitely a weekly staple in my shopping cart. WHO NEEDS CHEESE when you can eat this stuff!??! Sorry, getting too excited. This recipe made my year! Love it!
One More Cliche: it wasnt meant to be
I made this for my family of picky eaters and they all loved it! So glad that I can prove to them that healthy can be delicious. Thanks for the recipe and I love your blog!
So glad you all enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know :)