butternut squash

If you're looking for a more low-key way to ring in Halloween, then enjoy a festive, color-coordinated pasta dish at home. If you loved electric-pink rigatoni this time last year, then you'll find black-and-orange pasta just as fun. Squid ink provides the midnight color while roasted butternut squash lights the dish up with an incandescent glow. Make it even creamier by adding a generous pat of butter and a shower of freshly-shaved pecorino romano. For the spirited and spooky recipe, read on.

If you found yourself with leftover squash from last night's sumptuous meal, put it to good use in an easy weeknight pasta. Take a nod from a seasonal favorite — butternut squash ravioli — and serve up the same earthy flavors of sage, nuts, and browned butter with fresh store-bought or homemade pappardelle pasta. In contrast to its dried counterpart, it cooks up in only a couple of minutes. Want the recipe? Then keep reading.

Don't call panettone fruitcake: The fruit-studded Italian dessert bread is also a hallmark of the Christmas season, but it's much fluffier and less cloying than its dense and ridiculed American counterpart. Panettone is wonderful alone or with butter, but it can also be incorporated into a weeknight meal. This creative recipe calls for the eggy, voluptuous bread in lieu of sourdough in a late-Fall panzanella. This bread salad's packed with nutrient-dense butternut squash, spinach, and apple cider.

To add a holiday touch to a healthy meal, read more.

This recipe for quinoa with roasted butternut squash was shared by FitSugar reader prepel in our Healthy Recipe community group. Anyone up for making this for Thanksgiving?

I made risotto using quinoa, so is it called quinotto then? It sounds cool so I'll call it that! This is probably the tastiest dish I have ever made, especially for the first time making it and not having a recipe to follow, so I had to share it right away! It only took about 35 minutes to make . . . definitely something I will be making again, and for you who live in America — maybe you could use this recipe on Thanksgiving if you're worried about calories and fat!

See the recipe when you read more

When it comes to Thanksgiving, the humble salad is not one of the spectacular standout sides. It's overshadowed by more showy dishes like creamy mashed potatoes with rich giblet gravy or melt-in-your-mouth stuffing with juicy sausage. However, with interesting ingredients and a proper homemade vinaigrette, the salad can be transformed into a side worthy of competing with the best potatoes and stuffing.
Follow this recipe for a beet and butternut squash salad and you'll end up with a remarkably textured and flavorful salad that's pretty to look at and satisfying to eat. The dried cranberry dressing that coats the vegetables, leafy greens, and crunchy pumpkin seeds are sheer perfection, and the liberal shaving of salty parmesan is the ideal garnish. To check out this seasonal salad recipe, keep reading.

While the bulbs have started popping up, the cold weather is still in effect and I'm craving Winter comfort food. To feed that hunger, this weekend, I made a hearty and scrumptious butternut squash lasagna. It wasn't a fast process, but the finished product is rewarding.

Prepping a butternut squash can be a little intimidating, but if you follow my guide to peeling, scooping, and chopping, it will be a cinch. Once the butternut squash is roasted and tender, a couple quick whirls in the food processor will create a creamy texture.

The sage, thyme, and garlic bechamel takes a short time to prepare, and when that is done, the assembling begins. All of the flavors combine as it cooks, resulting in a deliciously decadent lasagna. If you want to warm up a cold evening, keep reading for the recipe.

It's still Winter and that means I'm constantly craving soup. Last week I warmed my soul with this smooth butternut squash and apple soup. The apples provide a lovely sweetness to the robust and rich soup. Don't skip the sour cream step, it really adds a depth of flavor. It's elegant and brings to mind Thanksgiving dinner in a very good way. You should really make it. Right now. Get the recipe.