Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

Found this online somewhere. Even Lindy ate it (the first time I gave it to her... we'll see if she will do it the second time).

From the kitchen of:  This website here.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2.5 lb butternut squash, peeled, cored, and cut into 1.5 in cubes (I don't know if other squash would work, we happened to have a few butternuts from the garden so that's what we used).

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

• 3 Tbs olive oil (total)

• 1/3 C diced shallots or onions

• 1 clove garlic (I added this, and thought it was a great addition).

• 1 to 2 C water

• 1/4 C Parmesan cheese

• 1/3 C sour cream or Greek yogurt

• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

• 1 C cooked, cubed chicken (the original recipe didn't have chicken, but I thought it would be good with it, or with shrimp).

• 12 medium sage leaves, fresh (I think the first time I made this, I just added a little dried sage to the sauce, and I actually forgot it this last time, and it was still amazingly tasty)

• Pasta - we did fettuccine.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. In roasting pan, toss the butternut squash cubes, 2 Tbs olive oil, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper until the squash is evenly coated.

3. Roast the squash for 45 min., giving it a stir every 15 min. until the squash is fork-tender.

4. Remove from oven and place the squash in a blender or food processor.

5. Heat the remaining 1 Tbs olive oil in a small sauce pan (you'll use it again later - you can use a frying pan if you want to dirty more dishes), and saute the onions and garlic until they start to brown and are fragrant.

6. Place the sauteed onions and garlic in the blender with the squash and add 1 cup of water. 

7. Get some pasta going at this point - we did fettuccine.

8. Blend - adding more water as needed to get the desired consistency.

9. Empty the contents into the medium saucepan and set on low heat.

10. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, sour cream (or yogurt), and nutmeg.

11. You don't want it to boil, just heat the sauce, trying for even melting of the cheese.

12. Meanwhile, melt some butter in a small pan on high heat.

13. When hot, place the fresh sage leaves in a single layer in the butter and fry.

14. Turn them over after 30 sec and continue to fry until crisp.

15. Serve the butternut squash sauce over any pasta (we used fettuccine and added some cooked cubed chicken)

16. Top with more Parmesan and add the sage leaves as a garnish (again... we didn't do that step, just added dried sage to the sauce).

MAKES: Serves 4