Squashage Pasta

I'd heard how good the Field Roast vegan sausages were and I'd been dying to try them. Unfortunately the Whole Foods in Framingham doesn't carry them. I stopped at the Whole Foods in Cambridge last week and grabbbed some Italian style Field Roast Sausages while I was there. Once I got them, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with them. Last night after a mid-day BVA meeting (around 4:30), I didn't know what we were having for dinner and I still needed to go to the grocery but there wasn't much time left in the day. So, in the car on the way back from Boston, I concocted this recipe for Squash-age Pasta in my head for a quick cooking dinner later in the evening. The Field Roast sausages ARE the best vegan sausages I've had. They were yummy!



Squashage Pasta
Serves 5

1 med sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced into 1/2 in cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 pinch crushed red pepper
3 Tbsp (or more) pine nuts
1 tsp dried rubbed sage
2 Field Roast vegan sausages, quartered lengthwise and then sliced (or other brand of vegan sausages ~ 6 oz).
1 onion, diced
2 tbsp+ white wine or mirin
5 oz baby spinach
16 oz whole wheat penne

Preheat oven to 385. Place the butternut squash on a cookie sheet lined with nonstick foil. Add enough olive oil to generously coat the squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir the squash and add the garlic, pinenuts, sage, and crushed red pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, stir and then cook for another 15 minutes (total time of 40 minutes). Pine nuts and garlic should lightly brown. If they are cooking too fast, push the squash and other ingedients together in one end of the cookie sheet to protect the squash and pine nuts with the moisture from the squash.

Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions.

Meanwhile (in the last 5 minutes or so of the squash cooking in the oven), in a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the onion and cook till lightly browned. Add the vegan sausage and cook for about a minute till heated through. Add a couple of tablespoons of white wine to deglaze. Then add the spinach, cover and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir and then cook for another 15 seconds. You want the spinach to just wilt. Add the squash mixture and stir to combine. Here is how it looks in the skillet at this point:



Drain the pasta and add it back to the pot. Add the squash/sausage/spinach mixture to the pasta and toss to combine.