The air outside is nice and crisp and the weather calls for comforting dishes like this yummy simple spaghetti. It's filled with roasted butternut squash, roasted garlic, crispy sage leaves, hazelnuts and shaved parmesan.
Peel, deseed, slice your butternut squash and then cube into 1/2 inch cubes. (the smaller they are the faster they will roast.)
In a baking pan, toss the squash with olive oil, I start with 2 tbsp and add more if needed, make sure the squash is coated well. Add your seasoning and toss well. Spread evenly so you don't have the squash overlapping. Roast for 30-45 minutes or until golden. Carefully toss half way to ensure both sides are browned.
Start your pasta, bring water to boil, add salt to taste so the pasta has flavor. Cook according to your pasta package instructions.
While pasta is cooking brown your butter by adding a stick of butter to a pan and on medium heat slowly brown it. Make sure to move it around every few minutes so it doesn't burn. You will see white foamy stuff come to surface, I remove that with a spoon by skimming it out of the pan. Turn the heat off and put to the side.
Now you can add vegetable oil to a deeper pot and bring the heat up so you can fry your sage. How I test if the oil is ready is by throwing in a small sage leaf, if it starts to bubble around the leaf, you can add more leaves. Have a paper towel ready to add the leaves on there to soak up any excess oil.
Chop your toasted hazelnuts to top off the pasta.
Drain the pasta when it's done cooking. In the same pan add the browned butter, toss. Then add the roasted butternut squash, roasted garlic and gently toss together. Add to a platter or bowl. Top with fried sage, hazelnuts and freshly shaved parmesan cheese. Enjoy as a main course or a side dish for the holidays or any day of the week.
Notes
This dish can be easily made vegan or gluten free by replacing the pasta with gluten free pasta and using vegan butter instead.