In my last post, I talked about making this pasta later in the week. Well, later in the week turned out to be a day later...
A few things I learned from this dish:
1. The brown rice pasta I used smells funny when you cook it but tastes just like pasta when mixed with sauce. I used Tinkyada brown rice fettuccine.
2. If you accidentally buy frozen cooked squash instead of the cubes, you get to skip a few steps like cooking and running through food processor. Also, I probably used too much squash after looking at the photo on the Chefuality blog.
3. You can add extra garlic and scallions to ANYTHING and it will be awesome. Ditto for red pepper powder and garlic and onion powder.
4. If you add chicken, it's a bit heartier. We added 1 humanely raised breast and it added a nice flavor but it would have been fine without it too if you're trying to have a meatless day.
5. This dish is okay but it's not as good as the broccoli tahini :) I think I didn't like this dish as much because I don't really like butternut squash. I keep trying to eat it in different recipes and convince myself otherwise, but it's a little sweet and doesn't work for me as a savory dish. If it was a pie, that might be a different story! ***UPDATE*** The reheated leftovers tasted a lot better than it did right after it was cooked. The flavors settled and it was pretty darn good!
6. Again, really impressed that this rice pasta tasted like regular pasta! For those of you who are intolerant of gluten, you do not have to miss out on pasta because this stuff is just the best. Make sure to rinse it off after it has cooked, like it suggests on the package.
To accompany my pasta dinner, I also made some fresh squeezed lemonade with half a lemon, a bit of Stevia in the Raw and some filtered tap water. This really helped my craving for a sugary drink like soda.
Brandi, you should try butternut squash soup with curry and garam masala. I made some last night and it was fantastic. The lemon and ginger take off some of the sweetness of the squash, and the Indian spices make it nice and savory. My measurements are not precise because I kind of make things up as I go along, but here it is:
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1 red onion
2-3 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 Tbsp fresh garlic
zest of 1 lemon
1 stick of butter (can be substituted with olive oil)
1-2 cups broth (whichever kind you like)
Garam Masala and Curry poweder to taste (apx. 1-2tsp each)
salt & pepper to taste
1. I started my cutting all of the veggies very thin (I have a roto-slicer, but you should be able to do this in a food processor also).
2. Melt butter in a large pot. Add veggies and stir until coated in butter and well mixed. Cook on med-low for about 30 minutes (until soft).
3. Add broth and spices. Blend until smooth - you can use a regular blender for this, but an immersion blender is a LOT easier.
Thanks Amber! Great idea :) We'll have to use olive oil, but I'm sure that would be just as good!
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