This elegant Butternut Squash and Paccheri Pasta Bake will take centre stage at your next family gathering or celebratory meal. A comforting and eye pleasing pasta dish made with oven roasted butternut squash, baby arugula and a creamy cheese sauce with a hint of rosemary.
This was a special request from hubby after returning home one evening with the latest “Bon Appétit” magazine.
It featured a baked pasta dish made with peas and mint which greatly resembled a cake.
I’ve made a few changes to the recipe. Mainly I replaced the peas with some seasonal, sweet oven roasted butternut squash which I then tossed with the cooked pasta. I also substituted the mint with some chopped rosemary however sage would work wonderfully as well.
Since I couldn’t come across Fontina cheese, I replaced it with freshly grated Asiago cheese. It’s a wonderful cow’s milk cheese and it melted beautifully in the silky smooth sauce. The aromas in this oven baked pasta dish are simply wonderful!
This deep dish pasta is fairly easy to put together but does require a few simple steps. They’re quite easily achievable, I might add.
And, will have your guests thinking you’ve laboured all day but you and I know differently!
How to Roast Butternut Squash for Paccheri Pasta Bake
First peel, chop and prep the butternut squash.
- Chop the butternut squash into half inch cubes.
- Place the chopped squash on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Toss together with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper to your taste.
- Spread out in one single layer and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes or till fork tender.
While the butternut squash bakes you can start on the creamy cheese sauce.
How to Make an Italian Creamy Cheese Sauce
- Melt a 1/4 cup of butter in a large sauce pot and over medium heat.
- Add in the all purpose flour and cook while whisking for 2 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the milk.
- Reduce the heat slightly and let the sauce simmer til thickened, for about 20 minutes. Whisk often so the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Remove the sauce pot from the heat and whisk in the Asiago cheese and 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
- Whisk in the lightly beaten egg and season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Cover the sauce pot to keep warm and set aside while you cook the pasta.
PREP YOUR SPRINGFORM PAN BEFORE BAKING
While I was tempted at first to line my springform pan with parchment paper for easier release of this pasta dish recipe, I’m glad I didn’t.
This simple technique of first buttering the pan, and then sprinkling it all around with Parmesan cheese will give you that beautiful crusty exterior we all love so much. In every single slice!
There won’t be any fighting for the crusty end pieces with this dish for sure!
- Cook and drain the pasta.
- In a large bowl, toss the pasta with the roasted butternut squash, arugula, parsley and rosemary.
- Stir in the cheese sauce until well combined.
- Transfer half of the pasta mixture into the prepared springform pan.
How to assemble the Paccheri pasta with ricotta
- Mix together the ricotta and lemon zest in a small bowl.
- Spoon half of the ricotta lemon mixture over the pasta.
- You can either spread the ricotta mixture over the pasta or leave it dotted, as in the photo below.
- Top with the remaining pasta mixture while spreading it out evenly.
- Spoon the remaining ricotta mixture over the second layer of pasta.
- Sprinkle the top with 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
- Place the springform pan over a baking sheet (this will avoid any mess from the juices leaking out of the bottom of the springform pan).
- Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F, for about 45 minutes.
- Or, until the top is golden brown and crispy.
- Let the baked pasta dish cool for about a half hour before releasing from the pan.
- Then run an off set spatula or butter knife around the inside edges of the springform pan to remove any sticky areas and carefully release the pasta from the pan.
- Cut into wedges and serve while still warm.
This deep dish pasta recipe will serve 6 to 8 people depending on the size of each serving.
So, if you have a birthday coming up soon and you love a meatless pasta dish once in a while, then this vegetarian paccheri pasta recipe is definitely for you!
But why wait for your birthday! Make it this weekend, take a photo and tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!
Happy cooking!
This post was originally published Oct 27, 2017 and republished October Oct 8, 2020 with new photos and content.
Butternut Squash Paccheri Pasta Bake
Equipment
- 9 inch springform pan for easy release or any other deep dish baking pan.
Ingredients
FOR ROASTING THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH
- 4 cups diced butternut squash
- olive oil for drizzling over butternut squash
FOR THE CREAMY CHEESE SAUCE
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter plus more for greasing the pan
- 1/3 cup plus 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese divided
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 litre milk I used 3.5 % full fat milk
- 1 cup grated Asiago cheese
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- fine sea salt or kosher salt to your taste
- freshly ground pepper to your taste
TO ASSEMBLE THE PASTA
- 500 grams paccheri pasta or rigatoni
- 4 cups baby arugula roughly chopped
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Instructions
ROASTING THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the chopped butternut squash on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle with olive oil, a dash of salt and pepper and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until fork tender.
- Set the cooked butternut squash aside while continuing with the rest of the recipe.
CREAMY CHEESE SAUCE
- In a large saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of the butter over medium heat.
- Add the all purpose flour to the melted butter and cook while whisking for 2 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the milk.
- Reduce the heat slightly and let he sauce simmer while whisking often, until the sauce has thickened, for about 20 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the Asiago cheese and 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
- Whisk in the lightly beaten egg and season with salt and pepper.
- Cover the saucepan to keep warm and set aside while you cook the pasta and prep the springform pan.
PREPPING THE PAN
- Butter a 9 inch springform pan with softened butter.
- Sprinkle the pan all over with 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and set aside.
COOK THE PASTA
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta just until al dente or firm to the bite.
- Drain the pasta and transfer to a large bowl.
ASSEMBLING THE DEEP DISH PASTA
- Add the cooked butternut squash, arugula, parsley and rosemary to the pasta bowl.
- Stir in the cheese sauce until well combined.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Transfer half of the pasta mixture to the prepared springform pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese and lemon zest then spoon half of this mixture over the pasta.
- Transfer the remaining pasta into the pan and spoon the remaining ricotta mixture over the pasta.
- Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crispy.
- Let the baked pasta rest for about 1/2 hour then run a knife alongside the inside of the pan before releasing the pasta from the pan.
- Cut into wedges and serve.
Nutrition
