Winter Pasta: Fusilli with Butternut Squash

Name: Winter Pasta: Fusilli with Butternut Squash
Ingredients: 1 ounce (30 grams) pecorino cheese, finely grated (about ¼ cup); ½ teaspoon red chili flakes; 2 leeks (about ¾ pound/340 grams), dark green tops removed, halved lengthwise, rinsed well, and thinly sliced; 2 leeks (about ¾ pound/340 grams), dark green tops removed, halved lengthwise, rinsed well, and thinly sliced; 3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the pasta; 3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the pasta; 1 pound (455 grams) fusilli; Kosher salt; 1 butternut squash (1 ½ to 2 pounds/680 to 910 grams); 12 fresh sage leaves; ¾ cup (180 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Modern Mediterranean

By Melia Marden

Published 2013

About

At the restaurant, I tend to make variations of popular dishes for the different seasons. In the winter I use sweet, dense butternut squash for this mildly spicy pasta. I like to use fusilli because the shredded squash gets tangled in the little spirals, trapping in the flavor.

Ingredients

For the Fried Sage

¾ cup (180 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil
12 fresh sage leaves

Pasta
Vegetarian
Winter

Method

Make the fried sage: In a small frying pan, heat the oil over high heat for 2 minutes. Drop in the sage leaves and fry until they are crisp but still green and stop sizzling, about 45 seconds. Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Make the pasta: Peel the squash, cut it in half, and discard the seeds. Cut