Butternut and Bowties

A community recipe by Becca

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

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Introduction

This is truly vulture gourmet, scavenged together last night in service to a huge appetite with little means to satisfy it. It sounds a bit odd, but the sweet/spicy squash is absolutely perfect with saltiness of the ham, backed up by subtly nutty emmenthale cheese and romano cheese. This serves one for dinner, two if accompanied by lots of bread and salad.

Ingredients

Serves: 1

1 butternut squash
½ cup diced smoked ham
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
¼ pound dried bowtie pasta
1 ounce grated emmental cheese
1 tablespoon grated romano cheese
½ tablespoon butter

Method

Butternut and Bowties is a community recipe submitted by Becca and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut the butternut squash into roughly a 1 inch. dice. Toss with the olive oil, nutmeg, cayenne and salt and pepper.

Spread on a baking sheet along with the ham. (Note: A cured country ham could be used, but I would leave out the salt.) Roast the squash and ham for about 20 minutes, depending on how soft you want the squash.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, adding a good pinch of sea salt after the water boils, and hopefully timing it so that the pasta and the squash are done at about the same time. Drain the pasta, reserving a bit of the cooking water. (I just don't drain it fully, plenty of liquid remains in the tiny crevices of the pasta.)

Return the pasta to the pan, along with the butter, and two cheeses. Toss around to melt everything, then add the contents of your baking pan, squash, ham and any salty juices therein. Toss about, and then onto a plate, unassumingly, and without further ado.