Roasted Delicata Squash Pasta with Greens
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Ready in 30 minutes — a delicious vegetarian pasta dish with roasted delicata squash, caramelized onion and chili in a creamy Parmesan sauce with wilted greens.
If you’re ready to take your everyday pasta up a notch, here’s a quick vegetarian recipe to help.
This is a favorite delicata squash recipe, featuring sweet roasted squash, a chili-infused Parmesan cream sauce and wilted greens.
It’s a delicious, healthy pasta recipe to add to your cooking rotation.
What is Delicata squash?
Delicata squash— pronounced DELI-KAH-TA — is a type of winter squash.
They have a beautiful green-striped orange skin and a sweet, mild flavor.
Delicatas are less stringy than other kinds of hard-skinned squash, and they’re perfect to mix into roasted vegetable salads and pasta dishes,
You can find delicatas during the months of the fall and early winter. Scoop them up when you see them!
Is the skin of Delicata squash edible?
The striated green and sunset-yellow skin is tender when cooked and totally edible.
There’s no need to peel it — you can just scrape the skin randomly with a vegetable peeler to remove any blemished spots.
The delicata’s flesh roasts up tender and the flavor is nutty and lightly sweet, less so than your average yam or sweet potato.
How to prepare delicata squash for cooking and roasting
Of all the winter squash, these pretty squashes seem to have the most delicate skin.
But the good news is that delicata squash doesn’t have to be peeled. The skin is completely edible and not tough at all.
Another good thing is that you don’t have to wrestle with a cleaver in order to cut it into pieces, like some of my other favorite squashes (I’m looking at you, kabocha!).
After slicing in half, just scoop out the seeds with a spoon then slice the squash into chunky pieces.
You’ll love that this pasta is a wholesome, one-dish dinner, especially if you’re vegetarian or craving a meatless meal.
You can satisfy your pasta craving (A daily one for me) along with a healthy serving of vegetables.
I used baby spinach for the dish in the photos, but I’ve made it with torn-up kale and chard and it’s just as delicious.
Rigatoni pasta has a nice rugged, blocky shape, which blends 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 literally 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
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Roasted Delicata Squash Pasta with Greens
Ingredients
- 1 small delicata squash about 10-12 ounces
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 shallots or 1 small red onion, peeled, halved and sliced lengthwise
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 dried chile de arbol, crumbled, or 1 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ pound (225 g) rigatoni or mezze rigatoni
- ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream
- ¼ cup (25 g) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- 2 good handfuls washed baby greens, such as spinach, kale or arugula
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Trim the stem and root end off the squash and slice it in half lengthwise. Slice each half in half again. Scrape a spoon along down the length of the pieces to remove the seeds and cut into ½-inch wide chunks. Put the squash in a large mixing bowl.
- Add olive oil, salt, shallots, garlic and chili to the squash and toss together. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and roast 20-25 minutes. The squash should be tender and nicely brown. Drizzle the balsamic over the squash as soon as it comes out of the oven and stir around 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 at the end.
- Transfer the pasta and greens back to the 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.
Nutrition
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about making cooking fun and doable, with easy to follow tested recipes and incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
Made this tonight since I had some delicata and kale from my CSA. Cooked the kale in oil and garlic first, then used what I had for the sauce–heavy cream, some Italian 4 cheese, and then a bit of Gouda. It was excellent, and my 8 y/o even gobbled it up!
I love how you used the kale – so happy it was enjoyed by your family!
This is so, so good. My daughter has been impatiently waiting for delicata season to roll around again, but now she is away at college. I’m guessing this wouldn’t freeze that well for her to keep some on hand in her dorm…?
Yes, you can freeze it! I recommend adding a little vegetable or chicken broth (1/4 cup) when reheating each portion as the sauce will thicken.
Awesome! She will be really excited. Thanks!
Of course! 🙂
YUM! found this from a quick google search because I had a delicata squash waiting to be used, and already had the other ingredients on hand. It was so easy to make and delicious! Curious how this would taste with nutmeg instead of chili pepper flakes…. is so good as written, but could be a good, different flavor.
I LOVE the idea of adding nutmeg!
This dish sent everyone over the moon! I had to make some adjustments due to food allergies. But it was a huge hit! It will now be my choice for Thanksgiving EVE when we do a autumnal something but with pasta. Thank you! Cheers!
That’s amazing! Cheers back at you Penny!
Oh my gosh! I found this recipe because i had extra delicata squash. I still have extra and can’t wait to make it again! I added sliced portobello mushrooms in the oven When there were about 12 minutes left. The dish wad perfection!!!
This was absolutely amazing. A big hit with my family – I doubled the recipe and used extra garlic and cream. Soooooooo good!!
Wow!! So glad you enjoyed it Michelle!
didnt have heavy cream on hand, so I used goat cheese with some milk. Also added some left over grilled chicken. Delicious !!
Googled “delicata squash pasta” and what came up first? YAY! Making this tomorrow, delicata is my FAVORITE squash ever and they are starting to show up at the Farmer’s Markets! XOXO
Fantastic!!I hope you love this. xoxo
Love some squash. Many thanks for the recipe.
I am making a variation of this reciepe for the restaurant that I work in tonight. Thank you for the inspiration
Glad to see you back in the kitchen and blogging! I despise the whole packing and unpacking business but at least it does give you a reason to do some “spring” cleaning and eliminate the junk.
Unpacking is infinitely worse than the actual move, but ending a organization with this beauty might make it a little better. Look so delicious!
Such a comforting bowl of pasta for a chilly fall evening. The roasted squash is a wonderful addition!
I always dread moving, and unpacking even more so. It’s always nice when you can finally find your rhythm in a new kitchen. I’m so glad you’re back to blogging again! 🙂
You said it – dreadful is the word. These past few months have been among the most challenging of my life. I’m feeling grateful to be back! Thanks for saying hello Laura.
Love the sound of this recipe (and beautiful pix, by the way)!
Thanks Patricia!