Easy Butternut Squash & Burrata Pasta, a 5 Ingredient Farm Share Meal

Cubes of butternut squash, Italian sausage crumbles, hot pasta and creamy burrata cheese. An easy, simple, and satisfying Fall supper using 5 main ingredients (plus oil, water, salt and pepper).

There's rice on this plate. Yes, rice with a pasta dish. It was my daughter's desire to have pasta with a side of rice for her lunch, and ever since we did child-led weaning I've supported her food choices.

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I have been sitting impatiently on this recipe until I could declare "Happy Fall, Ya'll" and stay true to my seasonal eating roots. No matter that winter squash is long-storing, and that I used the last of the butternuts from the 2014 Strategic Winter Squash Reserve in April and May of this year. [Yes, one of the ways I feed my family from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share 12 months out of the year when we get farm fresh produce 5 months out of the year is the SWSR.]

Sometimes we add freshly grated Parm on top.

It is so good. It is so easy. It is so not vegetarian. [Please see my Easy Artichoke Arugula Pesto and Burrata Pasta for a similar but vegetarian option.] Carnivores--grab 5 items from your favorite local purveyors: a pound of pasta, a pound of Italian sausage (sweet, hot, your choice), an onion, a butternut squash, and a tub of burrata cheese.

Ripping up burrata cheese and adding to the tossed pasta.

The fancy cheese counter of my local Kroger sells burrata for $10 a tub. I am sure it is worth it. However, I am a cheap so and so. That means every time I make a milk run to Kroger I'll cruise for magical markdown stickers in the fancy cheese area. Five dollars a tub is well worth the splurge to me.

I would also like to comment that, while I am highlighting the paucity of ingredients, good food usually takes time and longer ingredient lists. You are worth putting some effort into your food. Anyone else you feed is worth putting some effort into the food. Don't shortchange yourself by seeking out meals based solely on a tiny number of ingredients. You're missing out on flavor over convenience.

Instead of sharing ten photos of the exact same plate of food taken during the exact same photo shoot, I'm sharing a variety of photos because I kept on making this dish and for some reason my spouse happened to be taking pictures. I think we had company at least one of those times. It is so yummy, so cheesy, and such a nice balance of sweet creamy roasted squash with savory sausage all wrapped up with gooey cheese.

This version used leftover grilled vegetables reheated on top of the sausage. Note the saved pasta water.

This pasta is also simple to make. Grill or roast a butternut squash (heck, I've used leftover grilled zucchini in this as well). Alanna's directions on how to efficiently turn a butternut squash into cubes can be found here. You can even cook the vegetables a day ahead while cooking another meal. They'll keep in the fridge, then simply toss the cooled cooked veggies onto the cooked sausage to warm up while you're working on the pasta. Combine everything in a big bowl, crack open a burrata on top, and toss it all together.

This pasta reheats well for a midday lunch, if you're lucky enough to come home for lunch.

For other recipes using butternut squash, please see my Buttercup/Butternut Squash Recipe Collection. This is part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks who eat from the farm share and farmer's market. I've got more squash recipes and plenty more pasta recipes on my Pinterest boards. Want to know How to Use this Blog? Click here.

Shaped pasta lets the sausage crumbles nestle inside.

Note: to roast a butternut squash toss the cubes with olive oil (or the cooking oil of your choice), spread on a rimmed baking sheet, and sprinkle with salt and pepper (about ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper not that I measure). Place in a 425 degree Fahrenheit oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Stir the cubes when the timer rings, and return to the oven for another 10 minutes or so until the cubes are soft and browned on the edges. You may notice I used a piece of parchment paper to keep my baking sheet clean. I do that sometimes. To grill a butternut squash check out this recipe.

Three of the 5 ingredients--the other two are shown below.

Easy Butternut Squash & Burrata Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, peeled & cubed, roasted or grilled (see Note above)
• 1 pound Italian sausage (sweet, hot, mild, your choice)
• 1 cup chopped onion (I've used red and yellow with excellent results)
• 1 pound pasta (shells or other curly shapes) that you will cook according to package directions
• 1 tub (8 ounces) burrata cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Assemble all your ingredients on the counter. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Preheat a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. 
2. Cook the sausage in the skillet until it is browned, adding the chopped onions to sauté in the released fat. [If you previously cooked the squash, toss this on top of the cooked sausage and onion to warm back up.] 
3. When the water is boiling, prepare pasta according to package directions.  
4. Drain pasta, saving out a cup or so of the pasta water, and transfer the drained pasta to a large bowl. 
5. Dump the sausage/onion mixture and the roasted squash on top of the pasta, and stir to combine. 
6. Break open the burrata cheese and toss bits of it across the hot pasta/sausage/squash mixture. 
7. Toss well to combine. I usually use my clean hands to do this but spared you the copious photos my spouse took of the action. 
8. Take a bite, add salt and pepper if you like--and have salt and pepper at the table to serve.