Butternut Squash Pasta

Pasta is often a go-to dish for lots of cooks, especially during the fall season where we could all use some hearty comfort food that will stick to our ribs. This recipe for bowtie pasta with a butternut squash sauce goes will with the seafood of your choice, but of course, it makes a great vegetarian meal as well. For this dish, you'll need:

Farfalle pasta
pureed butternut squash
cream cheese or vegan sour cream
fresh sage
fresh parsley
fresh marjoram
butter or vegan margarine
olive oil
garlic cloves
shallots
dried cranberries
cinnamon
nutmeg
pine nuts
*Seafood (tilapia, shrimp, salmon)

-Sautee the shallots, garlic cloves, butter, and olive oil in a saucepan. When the garlic has cooked down some, add the fresh herbs. Mix the pureed squash and cream cheese together, and add this mixture to the herbs, shallots, and garlic (add a few tablespoons of vegetable or seafood stock if you want the sauce thinner). Allow the sauce to simmer for about ten minutes, then add cinnamon, nutmeg, and dried cranberries (dates work well, too). if possible, purchase fresh cinnamon and nutmeg, but if you can't, the dried variety tastes great as well.:)Sprinkle some pine nuts on top of the pasta dish once you've plated it, or roll them around in some olive oil and cinnamon first.

*While the sauce is cooking, boil the pasta--add sea salt and olive oil to the water to give the pasta a little taste. This is also a good time to cook the seafood you want with your pasta dish. Sautee a few slices of tilapia in olive oil and fresh herbs, and add a slice or two of zucchini for added color and taste. The same cooking method will work well no matter which seafood you choose. :)Enjoy!