BUTTERNUT SQUASH CARBONARA PASTA with SHIITAKE BACON AND SAGE {recipe}

BUTTERNUT SQUASH CARBONARA PASTA with SHIITAKE BACON AND SAGE {recipe}

serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral cooking oil
6 ounces thick-sliced bacon, chopped (to make vegetarian, leave out bacon and double the mushrooms, see Notes below)
8 ounces shiitake and cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 small bunch of fresh sage, about 10 leaves
5 cups cubed butternut squash (the neck part of a medium sized butternut squash)
½ medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups rich vegetable or chicken stock
kosher salt to taste
12 ounces long pasta
½ cup grated hard Italian cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino
crushed red pepper flakes
additional kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a large pan with high sides, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chopped bacon and cook about 10 minutes until bacon is cooked through and crisp at edges. Remove bacon to a separate plate lined with paper towel to soak up some of the excess grease from the cooked bacon. Leave oil and rendered fat in pan. Add mushrooms and sage leaves to pan. Cook, stirring gently to keep leaves intact, until sage leaves are crisp. Remove mushrooms and sage to plate with bacon.

Drain all but 2 tablespoons of fat from pan. Turn heat down to medium. Add garlic and onions and cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add butternut squash to pan and cook until squash starts to soften, about 10 minutes. Pour stock into pan, turn up heat to bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer until butternut squash is falling apart tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Spoon solids from pan into food processor. Begin puréeing butternut squash and solids. Slowly add stock from pot to food processor about ½ cup at a time until purée is the consistency of thick tomato sauce. Discard any remaining stock. Return the puréed butternut squash to the pan.

Taste and season with salt. The sauce may not need too much salt because bacon is salty.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water from pot, then drain pasta of the rest of the water.

Add a little more than half of the cooked pasta into pan with the puréed butternut squash sauce, tossing pasta to coat. If there is enough butternut squash sauce in the pan, gradually add the remaining pasta and toss to coat until all the sauce has coated the pasta. (You may not use all of the pasta, it all depends on how much butternut squash actually fit into 5 cups.) Use pasta cooking water to thin out sauce if needed. Stir in ¼ cup of the grated cheese. Add about half the bacon to the pot and combine with sauce and pasta. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt.

Serve pasta immediately topped with remaining bacon, fried mushrooms, the remaining grated cheese, fried sage leaves, crushed red pepper, and fresh cracked black pepper.

Pasta can be stored in an air-tight container for about a day. Refresh in a frying pan with oil and a little bit of water to loosen the pasta over medium heat.