Rigatoni with Roasted Butternut Squash Cream Sauce
Rigatoni with Roasted Butternut Squash Cream Sauce is luxuriously creamy and flavorful, but lower in fat and calories because it doesn’t rely on heavy cream for it’s wonderfully silky texture.
Pasta is one of my favorite food and I’m always looking for new ways to enjoy this favorite. If I can figure out healthier recipes for pasta, even better. Which is why I love this roasted butternut cream sauce so much!
This sauce gets it’s creamy start from roasted butternut squash that’s pureed with some chicken stock. I love to roast up a large batch of butternut squash and then freeze it in 1 cup portions. It’s great to have on hand for a variety of recipes and it helps this roasted butternut squash cream sauce come together in just 30 minutes.
Along with the rich flavor from the roasted butternut squash, this sauce gets great savory flavor from a little bit of pancetta, garlic, onion and fresh sage. And because it’s pasta after all, a generous handful of parmesan gives it the final flavor boost. It’s a total flavor party in your mouth!
To help the sauce get to just the right consistency, I added almond milk rather than heavy cream and some of the pasta water. This helps to keep the recipe healthier because you’re not adding all the extra calories you would with cream. I promise, you won’t miss the heavy cream.
If you’d prefer this to be vegetarian, you can substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock and omit the pancetta. For a gluten free option, use your favorite gluten free pasta. I used brown rice rigatoni and it was delicious with the sauce.
Rigatoni with Roasted Butternut Squash Cream Sauce
Rigatoni with Roasted Butternut Squash Cream Sauce is luxuriously creamy and flavorful, but lower in fat and calories because it doesn’t rely on heavy cream for it’s wonderfully silky texture.
Ingredients
- 1 lb rigatoni, cooked according to package instructions, reserve the pasta water
- 4 oz pancetta, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 lbs (about 2 1/2 cups) roasted butternut squash
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- pinch of grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add pancetta and cook until browned and crispy.
- Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.
- Saute onion and garlic in pancetta drippings until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add squash and chicken stock to pan and continue cooking until heated through.
- Puree mixture with an immersion blender.
- If you don't have an immersion blender, use a conventional blender to puree, making sure you hold a towel over the lid so it doesn't pop off from the heat,
- Stir in almond milk, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
- Then add pasta water, a little at a time, until it's a creamy, saucy consistency.
- Stir in reserved pancetta and sage.
- Add pasta to skillet and stir to combine with sauce.
- If sauce seems too thick, add a little more pasta water.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
To make this recipe vegetarian, you can use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and omit the pancetta.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 264Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 533mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 9g
ENJOY!
Gorgeous, gorgeous! What a great idea to use butternut squash for the sauce. Thanks for sharing on Thursdays Treasures.
Thanks Christie!
This recipe was great. while I did use some of the Chicken Broth, Instead of Almond Milk. I used Coconut milk (which has the consistency of Room temperature Butter) and it kept with that hint of Nutmeg to make it a wonderful Squash flavor.
The sauce looks absolutely decadent, creamy and delicious! What a lovely meal and a great way to enjoy some extra veggies – fabulous!
Such delicious creamy pasta with out all the cream! Brilliant!
Wow, this rigatoni looks so rich, creamy, and delicious and I love that you used pancetta!
My grandmother made the best rigatoni and her’s included tomatoes and Swiss cheese which sounds weird but it was good. I love this butternut squash twist! I think I can use this cream on a variety of other dishes!
What a beautiful, elegant dinner! Butternut squash is one of my favorite vegetables and I don’t cook it often enough. Have to try this soon!
Your rigatoni recipe is just what I have been looking for!! Thank you so much!! Menu this week!
I think I found my weekend dinner with this RIGATONI WITH ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH CREAM SAUCE! YUM!