Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Bacon Lardons

I've always wanted to try cooking mac and cheese or pasta alla carbonara but the wild boar is not a huge fan of creamy, cheesy pasta so no chance of seeing those recipes. This pasta is as creamy and cheesy as it gets. I had a bit of mascarpone cheese left (you will know why in my future post, will be a secret for the time being =P), so I thought I'd try a creamy pasta thinking the wild boar won't mind that small amount of cheese. I was right! He enjoyed it. Mascarpone cheese is very mild and it has a slight sweetness to it so it went very well with the salty bacon and sweet butternut squash.









Ingredients: serves 3-4


280g pasta (I used Dischi Volanti)
1 small butternut squash - cut into small cubes
250g bacon lardons
4 tbs mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup pasta water
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp (or more) chili flakes
Parmesan




Directions:


Toss together butternut squash and 1 tbs of olive oil and spread evenly on a baking tray.
Roast butternut squash in a 150°C pre-heated oven for about 20 mins or until tender. Remove from oven and leave aside for later use.
In a pan, stir fry bacon lardons until golden browned.
While bacon is browning, cook pasta as instructed on the package. Drain. Save some pasta water for later use.
Add pasta to browned bacon.
Stir in mascarpone. The remaining heat from cooked pasta should be able to melt the cheese. Add pasta water if too dry. I added about 1/2 cup.
Mix in roasted butternut squash.
Add salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste.
Serve with lots of parmesan cheese.






I am sending this dish to Kevin of Closet cooking who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night.