Roasted Delicata Squash Pasta (30-Minutes)
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This is a quick and savory pasta with delicata squash, a flavorful, produce-packed dinner that’s ready to enjoy in about half an hour! Combine roasted delicata squash, caramelized onion in a creamy Parmesan pan sauce with wilted leafy greens.
This recipe features delicata squash roasted until sweet and caramelized, combined with a chili-infused Parmesan cream sauce, wilted greens and chunky rigatoni pasta to catch all the saucy bits. It’s a delicious pasta dinner to add to your cooking rotation.
If you’re ready to take your everyday pasta up a notch, I put this alongside a creamy butternut squash pasta any day —an easy-to-make vegetarian recipe to help switch up the usual pasta night.
About delicata squash
Delicata squash— pronounced DELI-KAH-TA — is a type of winter squash. It’s an elongated shape with beautiful green-striped orange skin. The flavor is mild, sweet, and the texture is pleasant dense (not watery, like some winter squash).
- Delicatas are less stringy than other kinds of hard-skinned squash, and they’re perfect to mix into roasted winter vegetable salads and pasta dishes, You can find delicata squash during the months of the fall and early winter. Scoop them up when you see them!
About the ingredients
- Delicata squash: One delicata squash weighs around a pound, more or less. If you’re scaling up the recipe to serve 6-8 people, use two delicata squash.
- Pasta: Short, chunky pasta shapes such as rigatoni, shells or pipe rigate are the best types to use in this recipe — they’re bite-size, and capture the sauce perfectly.
- Red onion: You’ll need 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion or shallots.
- Kale: I love to make this dish with sturdy Tuscan (lacinato) kale or curly kale. Spinach, Swiss chard leaves or any sturdy, leafy green will work in this recipe.
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic cloves, grated on a rasp grater or chopped fine.
- Crushed red chili: The heat level in the dish is low-medium with a large pinch (1/2 teaspoon) of chili. Add more or less to taste.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Use your best everyday olive oil.
- Heavy cream: You just need a small amount of cream to “marry” the sauce. Substitute 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water if you want to skip the dairy.
- Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated is best!
Delicata squash has an edible skin
Of all the winter squash, these pretty striped squashes seem to have the most delicate skin. The good news is that delicata squash doesn’t have to be peeled.
The striated green and sunset-yellow skin is tender when cooked and totally edible. There’s no need to peel it. If you like, you can just scrape the skin randomly with a vegetable peeler to remove any blemished spots.
The delicata’s flesh roasts up tender and tastes nutty and lightly sweet, a little less so than your average yam or sweet potato.
How to prepare delicata squash for cooking and roasting
Another good thing about tender-skinned delicata squash is that you don’t have to wrestle with a giant cleaver in order to cut it into pieces, like some of my other favorite hard winter squashes I sometimes use to make creamy pumpkin pasta.
1. Slice the squash in half lengthwise. 
2. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon (Hint: A sturdy spork is the best tool for this!)
- After slicing the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds with a spoon then slice the squash into chunky pieces.
3. Slice each half in half again, then into 1/2-inch chunks (rigatoni-size!) 4. Put the squash in a bowl with onion, garlic, olive oil, salt and chili.
5. Combine to coat (skip the bowl for easier clean-up and mix this right in your pan). 6. Arrange the squash in a large ovenproof pan or small sheet pan, in one layer.
7. Drain the pasta over the greens to quickly wilt them. 
8. Combine pasta with the squash mixture, cream, and cheese.
You’ll love that this pasta is a wholesome, one-dish dinner, especially if you’re vegetarian or craving a meatless meal. Satisfy your pasta craving (a daily one for me), along with a healthy serving of vegetables.
That said, you can add crumbled cook bacon or crisp prosciutto to the pasta when serving for a hit of protein.
Types of short pasta to use
- Rigatoni pasta has a nicely rugged, blocky shape that melds perfectly with the pieces of roasted chunky squash and catches the bits of creamy sauce, wilted greens, and caramelized onion.
- You could use cute mezze rigatoni pasta in this recipe if you happen to see them in your grocery store (they’re regular rigatoni cut in half), as well as penne or shells.
More winter squash recipes:
- Creamy Pumpkin Pasta in Garlic Parmesan Sauce
- Butternut Squash Soup with Orange and Ginger (Dairy-free)
- Harvest Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with Chimichurri
Roasted Delicata Squash Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 (450 g) delicata squash, about 16 ounces
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup sliced shallot or red onion
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 garlic clove, grated or finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon crushed red chili, or 1 crumbled chili de arbol
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 8 ounces (225 g) rigatoni or mezze rigatoni
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) heavy cream
- ¼ cup (25 g) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- 2 big handfuls washed baby greens, such as spinach, kale or arugula
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 (220 C) degrees.
- Trim the stem and root end off the squash and slice it in half lengthwise. Scrape a spoon along down the length of the pieces to remove the seeds and strings. Slice each half in half again, then cut into ½-inch wide chunks.
- Put the squash in a large mixing bowl with the olive oil, shallot, garlic, salt and red pepper. Toss to coat, then transfer to a half-size (13"x15") rimmed baking sheet — or mix the veggies and seasonings directly on the baking sheet.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, stirring everything around halfway through, until the squash is tender and nicely brown. Drizzle the balsamic over the squash as soon as it comes out of the oven and stir gently with a spatula.
- While the squash is roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the rigatoni until al dente. Before draining the pasta, add the greens to the colander. The brief contact with the boiling pasta water will wilt the greens. If you're using a tender green like arugula, just toss it in after draining the pasta.
- Transfer the pasta and greens back to the pasta cooking pot and stir in the cream and Parmesan.
- Add the squash to the pasta and toss together. Serve hot with additional cheese and chili to your taste.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Substitute an equal amount (1/4 cup) of pasta cooking water for the cream, if you prefer.
- Add crumbled cook bacon or crisp prosciutto to the pasta when serving for a hit of protein.
- One delicata squash weighs around a pound, more or less. If you’re scaling up the recipe to serve 6-8 people, use two delicata squash
- The prepared pasta keeps refrigerated for 3-4 days. The pasta will absorb the sauce as it sits, so add a few more drops of cream and/or broth to the pasta when reheating.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
This was great! Added some Italian chicken sausage as well, yum!