Butternut Squash and Chorizo Pasta
By: Sweetwatercooks
Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 - 3:57pm

Ingredients




2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 medium sweet onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 inch chorizo sausage cut  slices
1 inch medium butternut squash peeled and diced  small cubes
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or equivalent dried)
8 ounces cavatelli pasta (cooked to al dente) (reserve some of the pasta water)
1/4 cup of parmigiano or pecorino cheese grated (I used a mixture)

Preparation

1 Heat olive oil and chili flakes. 2 Add chorizo and saute until the sausage begins to release it's oils. 3 Add onion and garlic and saute until softened (a few minutes). 4 Season with s&p. 5 Add squash and stir mixture together. 6 Add chopped thyme. 7 Saute mixture for 5 minutes or so uncovered. 8 At this point put your pasta water on to boil. 9 Continue to saute your squash mixture covered for 5 minutes. 10 Check the squash for firmness. 11 You want the squash to be tender but still hold it's shape. 12 When the squash is tender transfer to a large serving bowl. 13 Add your cooked pasta to the squash. 14 Mix everything together with your cheese. 15 Add some of the reserved pasta water to loosen the mixture if you want. 16 Serve with more grated cheese over top.

About


This pasta is my take on a Mario Batali recipe from Food and Wine a couple of years ago. The original is great but I really wanted to add another level of flavour with the chorizo sausage.