Fall Provençal Pasta
Winter begs for a big bowl of pasta with bolognese or red sauce. And nothing says “summer” quite like a veg-heavy pasta salad. Fall needed a pasta dish to call its very own, and this is it! I couldn’t resist the medley of sweet roasted butternut squash and a variety of bright, aromatic Provençal-inspired ingredients like citrus, capers, herbs, and honey.
A delicious roasted squash and artichoke pasta with crispy capers, Provence-inspired herbs, and creamy goat cheese.
- 3-4 c. cubed butternut squash
- 6-8 oz. quartered frozen artichoke hearts
- 1 oz. capers, drained and patted dry
- 3 large or 4 small garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 1 tbsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 3.5 tsp. kosher salt, divided
- 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp. (pinch) freshly ground nutmeg (see TIP A)
- 1 medium orange, halved
- 1 medium lemon, halved
- 14-16 c. water
- 10-12 oz. (approx. 4 c.) short whole grain pasta like penne or reginetti, uncooked
- 3/4 c. chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1/3 c. grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 2 oz. goat cheese
- 1 tbsp. good quality, pure honey
- 1/3 c. roasted hazelnuts (skin removed, see TIP B below), coarsely chopped
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Put the cubed squash, frozen artichoke hearts, capers, and thinly sliced garlic at the center of a large rimmed baking sheet. Coat with 3 tablespoons olive oil (reserve remaining), oregano, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt (reserve remaining), paprika, black pepper, and nutmeg. Gently toss the ingredients with your hands and then evenly distribute the vegetables across the baking sheet. Clear four small spaces for the orange and lemon halves and put them face-down on the baking sheet. Set the baking sheet on the bottom rack of a pre-heated 450° oven. Roast the vegetables for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Remove the orange and lemon halves after 15 minutes and set aside to use later.
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Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil in a 6-8 qt. pot. Add 2 teaspoons kosher salt and pasta. Reduce the heat beneath the pot to medium to maintain a gentle boil, and cook the pasta until al dente (typically 10-12 minutes). Once done, drain the pasta (do not rinse) and transfer it to a large bowl.
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Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, fresh Italian parsley, and Pecorino Romano to the bowl with the pasta. Stir to combine. Then add the roasted vegetables (including any residual juices in the pan) and squeeze the juice from the roasted orange and lemon halves into the bowl (use a slotted spoon or strainer to capture any seeds). Gently toss to combine. If desired, transfer the prepared pasta to a serving bowl or platter at this stage. Then, top with large clumps of goat cheese, a drizzle of honey, and roasted hazelnuts to serve.
TIP A: Nutmeg is one of those spices that I always recommend grinding fresh because a) it's easy to do, and b) the difference in flavor potency and quality is significant. Ground nutmeg tends to lose its flavor and aroma fairly quickly. Alternatively, whole nutmeg seeds stay fresh practically forever. In addition, they are quite large relative to other whole-seed spices so they can be easily grated directly into your dishes using a microplane or fine grater (no special spice mill or grinder required).
TIP B: If you're lucky enough to find skin-less, roasted hazelnuts in the store, then you can bypass this tip entirely (or maybe just read-on for curiosity sake). Most of the time, hazelnuts are sold whole and raw with the skin on. The skin is not bad for you or bad-tasting, it's just not the most pleasant texture in your mouth when it invariably flakes away from the meat of the nut. Removing the skin from whole hazelnuts is actually quite easy. Just spread them across a small baking sheet and pop them in a pre-heated 450° for about 6-8 minutes until the skins blister. Then immediately wrap them in a clean dry towel, let the steam build for a minute or two, then rub or roll them within the towel until they are mostly free of skins (it's ok if some skin remains).