Creamy Butternut Squash Elbows
A creamy butternut squash elbow pasta made with shredded squash. A great way to get in Vitamin A and introduce squash to kids1
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 10 cups water
- 1 pound elbow or shell noodles
- 1/3 cup raw cashews
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Peel the butternut squash, halve and remove the seeds. Using a box grater or food processor fitted with a shredding blade, shred the butternut squash until finely grated. You should have ~ 4 cups. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and butternut squash along with a pinch of salt and cook until water starts to release from the squash and the onion, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and vegetable broth and cook, stirring occassionally until the squash is very soft and almost creamy.
- While the squash is cooking, add the 10 cups of water in a large saucepan along with 2 teaspoons of salt and bring to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until noodles are al dente according to package directions, drain, reserving the pasta water.
- In a small blender or mini food processor, add the cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and 1-2 cups of the cooked, shredded squash. How much you add depends on how much texture you want in the final dish. Add ~1/2 cup of reserved pasta water and blend until very creamy and smooth, with no grainess of the cashews.
- To the cooked squash, add the cooked pasta and the creamy cashew-butternut squash. Toss together and taste, adding salt as needed. If the mixture is too thick, add in a splash of pasta water until the desired texture is reached. Serve immedietly.
Notes
I added some grated parmesan cheese to these bowls; you can do whatever kind of cheese you like. For a vegan version, we like Violife for taste!