My Daily Dollars

Welcome readers from Almost Frugal Food!  I’m happy to post this week’s contribution.  Everything has been so tasty so far.  Here’s a great, quick meal for cool autumn weather.  We’ve had quite a cold snap this week, so Wednesday night was a perfect night for this dish.  It’s a grown-up version of mac and cheese, and can easily be adapted to any seasonal vegetable.  Like many of my meals, it can be made out of supplies in my pantry and uses local produce.  Butternut squash is a great vegetable to stock up for winter.  It’s easy to store: just find a cool place.  We keep a bin of fifteen or so in our basement, and last winter they kept for several months.  Ideally, you want to store them at around 50 ° farenheight.

To the recipie!  The key is to shave off pieces of squash with a vegetable peeler.  The thin pieces will cook to perfection with just a few minutes’ blanching in the pasta water.  Most squash recipes call for long roasting times, so this is a great quickie to have on hand.

• 1 lb bow-tie pasta (or any short pasta, such as penne)
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and shaved into thin slices
• 1/4 c toasted walnuts, finely chopped
• 1/4 c olive oil
• healthy dashes of salt and pepper to taste
• 3 TBs chopped fresh herbs (I used a mix of parsley and sage)
• shredded parmesan cheese

Put a large pot of salty water on to boil.  While the water heats, peel the squash and shave off pieces.  I shaved off much of the longer neck and saved the rest of the squash for another recipe.  Once the water boils, toss in pasta for nine to eleven minutes.  While the pasta cooks, toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat until fragarant (about five to seven minutes).  Chop the walnuts.  Two to three minutes before the pasta is done, add the squash to the boiling water.

Drain the pasta and squash and transfer to a large bowl.  Top with oil (I got fancy and used a mix of olive and walnut oil), salt, pepper, and herbs.  Add about 1/3 c of cheese and put more on the table for garnish.  Toss ingredients and serve.

That’s it!  We had it with a tomato salad, but a piece of crusty bread would be nice too.  This easily serves four.  For the two of us, it provides several yummy lunches.  Hope you enjoy!