Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash, Baby Greens and Prosciutto

When I met my husband, he was amazed at so many of my qualities, foremost possibly being the enormous amount of pasta I could eat in one sitting. For my birthday, he decided to make me dinner - spaghetti. Twenty-five years later, he still cooks me spaghetti on my birthday. It's the only day of the year that he cooks, and he's much more streamlined than the first year, when he had to take half a day off of work to make the meal.

Pasta seems to fit the bill at any time of the day for me. In fact, I invented a Breakfast Pasta recently, but I couldn't find the camera (and I was starving), so that one never got posted. But it was good!

The Butternut Squash/Greens idea came to me because I've been seeing those boxes of Olivia's Organic Cooking Greens at the store, and my healthy side really wanted to do something with them. "Add pasta," said the devil on my right shoulder. "What else?" I wondered. "How about some of that good-looking butternut squash?" whispered the angel on my left shoulder. "Now I need something meaty or salty," I thought. "How about prosciutto?" offered the devil. "And some Parmesan, too!"

And so a new pasta dish was born. I enjoyed a bowl for dinner last night and another for lunch today, and I've gotta tell you, it's even better the second day. I am hoping that when I get up from the computer and go to the fridge, there's still more left so I can have it again tonight. And it's not even my birthday!

Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash, Baby Greens and Prosciutto
Serves 4

The essentials:

1 package diced butternut squash
1 - 2 shallots, chopped very large
1 - 2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper
8 ounces pasta
1 box Olivia's Organics Cooking Greens

The other stuff - pick and choose what you like:

Wegman's Basting Oil
low-sodium chicken broth
prosciutto (or crumbled cooked sausage)
grated Parmesan Cheese
dried crushed red pepper flakes
a pat of butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Toss the cut up squash and shallots with the olive oil, salt and pepper on the sheet and roast for 30 - 45 minutes, or until the squash is tender but not mushy. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a good pinch of salt and the pasta. Cook until done. Drain, saving about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Time to multitask: At the same time you're roasting the squash and boiling the water, get out a skillet, heat over medium, and add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the greens and stir around until they start to wilt. Add a splash of stock if you want, and some salt and pepper, and cover the pan and let the greens wilt for a few minutes.

After you drain the pasta, place it in the skillet with the greens. Add the roasted squash and shallots. Toss it all together. Drizzle it with the Basting oil if you'd like. Add some salt, pepper and crushed red pepper if you'd like. Add some cooking water or more broth if you'd like. Add a pat of butter (that was the devilish side speaking). Stir until it tastes good to you.

Place the pasta/vegetable mixture in a serving bowl. Add bite-size strips of prosciutto and a good sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Grind a little black pepper over the bowl and serve.