Roasted Squash Pasta with Browned Butter and Walnuts- Dark Day Challenge

Every once in a while things just magically come together in the kitchen. This recipe was one of those magical moments. I had received a beautiful bag of homegrown walnuts from friends, and I was afraid that they would go to waste. I can only eat a few nuts, whether almonds, walnuts or cashews at a time due to my one-and-only very slight food allergy.

My homegrown, giant squash was next in line to be eaten. I don't know about you, but it is the largest squash I have ever seen. I think it is called a banana squash. It weighed about 20 pounds and took a large butch knife swung at full force to crack open. If I had had a axe, it would have come in handy last night. Needless to say, this squash would have made the recipe 6 times over.

To save time or if you don't have a stash of squash sitting around, a bag of cubed butternut would be perfect. Another time saver would be an actual nut cracker, or just a bag of preshelled nuts. (But then they wouldn't be quite as special!)

This first time I made this I dirtied 6 pans! My dish washing husband protested! I had to figure out how to make it simpler. Now all the ingredients are roasted on a cookie sheet, the pasta boiled in one pot, and a pat of butter is browned in a small frying pan. Three dirty dishes isn't too many for this delicious pasta.

You can reduce the butter or bacon in the dish to make it a little lighter. Reserve some of the pasta cooking water to moisten the sauce.
Roasted Squash Pasta with Browned Butter and Walnuts
4 cups cubed hard squash, such as butternut or banana
1 large onion, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
2 sliced of thick cut bacon, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces. (I used apple smoked)
black pepper
salt
a small pinch of red chili flakes
1/3 - 1/2 cup shelled walnut pieces
1 pound spaghetti
1-2 tablespoons butter

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Spread squash, onions, and bacon onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper and chili flakes.
3. Roast 20-30 minutes. Check and stir every 10 minutes. (Depending on your oven it may all be brown and fragrant in 15 minutes. )
4. While squash is roasting boil spaghetti according to directions, but before you drain the pasta reserve a small cup of cooking liquid.
5. When the bacon is crisp, the squash browned and the onion soft turn off oven heat and toss walnuts onto cookie sheet. Stir. Keep warm while spaghetti finishes cooking.
6. In the last minutes of the pasta cooking, melt a tablespoon or two of butter. Swirl over the heat until the butter smells nutty and begins to turn brown. Immediately take off the heat.
7. In a large serving bowl toss squash, bacon, etc with the pasta and browned butter. Add a few dashes of pasta water.

Serve immediately!
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Dark Days Challenge 2.0 Creamed Spinach with new kind of baked eggs

For my second Dark Days Challenge I decided to go veggie. After a long week of (local) turkey leftovers and traveling, I was ready for some veggies and eggs.

Creamed spinach with baked eggs and (homemade) English muffins seemed like the perfect fit for dinner tonight. This is a super rich dinner - neither Justin or I could finish our servings.
Separately, the creamed spinach or the baked eggs make a quick meal, but together they are a warm and cozy treat for a cold winter night.

I found the best way to defrost spinach is to put it into a salad spinner basket inside the main bowl. Microwave on defrost at 5 minute intervals. After 5 minutes, give it a spin to remove liquid. Keep defrosting until the spinach is ice and water free.

NOTE: This makes a huge pot of the spinach because we always need leftovers for lunches or dinner for 6. You easily halve this recipe.

I tried to lighten up the creamed spinach by using some stock in the sauce. You could also sub milk for cream, which would probably work just as well.

The technical details for the Dark Day Challenge here:
Spinach - 1/4 was the last leaves from my garden, and 3/4 was from a box of frozen spinach. I had about 5 cups total cooked spinach.
Stock - homemade from the farm turkey
Butter and Cream - Oregon dairy
Onion - garden
Garlic - farmer's market, I am not sure if it is really within 150 miles of Portland, but I am assuming it is.
Eggs - my friend's yard
Capers - From a jar



This is a slightly richer take on my original baked eggs. I recently acquired two 6-inch creme brulee dishes and had to give them a test run. These are so pretty out of the oven and would be a great appetizer with a loaf of crusty bread.

Cream Baked Eggs
2 tablespoons creme
2 teaspoons capers (optional)
4 eggs
salt and pepper

1. Divide cream and capers between the dishes. Crack 2 eggs into each dish.
2. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Bake 15 - 20 minutes at 350 degrees, depending on how runny you want the yolk.

Meanwhile make your
Creamed Spinach
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion chopped
4 garlic
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup stock
1 cup cream or milk
5 cups cooked spinach (3 boxes of frozen spinach if using)
salt and pepper

1. Cook (or defrost) and drain spinach.
2. In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute on low for about 5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle onion and garlic with the flour and stir for one minute. Add half of the broth and half of the cream and stir until the roux begins to thicken.
4. Add spinach and add more liquid as needed until the spinach is saucy enough for your taste.
5. Adjust salt and pepper.

We ate this all in one bowl, out of laziness. Add a dollop of creamed spinach to a bowl and scoop the eggs out of their dish to top the spinach. Serve with bread. (Really, start with half as much as you think you can eat - this is rich!)

Dark Days of Winter Eat Local Challenge, Week 1: Kale and Sausage Soup

I have joined the Dark Days of Winter Eat Local Challenge this year. I have never tried to eat within a 100 miles of my home, but I think I do so pretty often by default. I tend to focus on eating in season, which is the tagline for this blog. (Did you know I had a tagline?) Eating in season naturally fits with eating locally.

This challenge begins this Sunday, November 15 and goes through March 31, 2010. My goal is to document a meal a week which is sourced primarily 100-150 miles from Portland, Oregon. Honestly, I think writing the recipes up will be more challenging then finding yummy things to cook. We are very blessed here in Portland to have grocery stores which focus on local products. Amazing farmer's markets make it even easier to eat close to home.

For example, on Saturday, Justin and I headed to the Portland Farmer's Market. We came home with lamb shanks, artichokes, celery, winter squash, onions, carrots, spinach, sunchokes, and a baguette. I am pretty sure that all of these fall into the official eating locally category except for the baguette. The flour is not locally grown, but was milled and baked here in Portland. If we had had more cash we could have carried home beef, salmon, cheeses, pickles, and pastries.

To kick off the challenge I decided to modify a recipe I found in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. This is a totally accessible recipe, easy, and fast, but with a few twists it fits the Dark Days Challenge. I do have a pantry and freezer stocked with foodstuff I put away this summer, but not everyone has that luxury. (Or obsession!)

The original recipe calls for lentils, which do not grow around here... as far as I know. While doing a final garden clean up I came across some potatoes growing in the garden. I subbed those in. As I mentioned before a local grocery store, New Season's Market, carried local meats. I talked to the butcher and he told me the chicken sausage was made in house from Pacific Village Chicken. I can't actually locate an exact city, but they are called a Pacific Northwest Company. So I hope they are within 150 miles!


This is a simple, but hardy soup, perfect for lunches. The kale and potatoes were from my garden. The onion and celery were from the farmer's market. The peppers (summer garden) and stock (past chicken dinner) hailed from my freezer.

Sausage and Kale Soup
1/2 lb spicy Italian chicken sausage - no casing
1/2 lb mild Italian chicken sausage - no casing
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large sweet or bell pepper, chopped
4 medium potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 large bunch of kale, cut into bite sized pieces
4- 6 cups chicken or veggie broth
Pepper and Salt

1. In a large soup pot, over medium heat, begin to cook sausage. Break it up as it cooks.
2. When sausage is half cooked, add onion, celery and pepper. Cook until onions are soft.
3. Add potatoes, broth and kale. Cover and simmer until potatoes are cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning with pepper and salt, or if you want a kick, add some red chili flakes.