Pasta Aglio Olio With Butternut Squash Recipe (2024)

In what world can you grate an entire butternut squash AND cook all this in only 25 minutes?

In a world with a food processor.

I just read this recipe, and haven't cooked it yet, but I am anxious to do so. Many of the suggestions sound promising.The addition of spinach or chard seems good, and I think I would roast the butternut squash in chunks, with olive oil, in the oven first, and give it some good caramelization.Many of the comments from Times readers can be as valuable as the original recipes themselves. Thanks, fellow readers.

This was really great, with a few changes. We only 750g of pasta on-hand (recipe calls for 1lb) and ended up with about 8c grated squash (recipe calls for 5c), as well as about 6tb lemon juice (rather than 2). At that increased ratio of squash-to-pasta, and additional lemon juice, it was just right. It benefited greatly from about 3/4c parmesan cheese in the mix and more parmesan and fresh sage for the top. The nuts were a delicious touch!

Butternut Squash peeling tip: I recently discovered that if you put a whole butternut squash in a hot oven for a minute or two and allow to cool to touch, the skin peels off with ease.

I didn't have any nuts, unfortunately, but I did add greens, as another reader suggested--always a good idea. I used sweet potatoes rather than squash. A comforting, flavorful, satisfying weeknight dinner on a cool, dark autumn evening.

Peeling, de-seeding, and hand grating a raw butternut took me 20min. If hand grating, leave the peel on half the butternut - a naked butternut is way too slippery and dangerous. Cook time was longer too.Still, I loved the texture and acidity from lemon. Lots of room to change up with other spices like nutmeg, thyme, cumin, lemon zest so I will make again.

It could’ve been your butternut. As it ages, it loses flavor. I roasted one recently that was tasteless—and realized afterward that the whole squash had felt suspiciously light. Pick heavy (moist inside) ones! :)

For anyone who has to deal with a nut allergy, substitute raw sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds for the nuts to get the textural component.

I was surprised that no one remarked on the 3/4 cup of olive oil. We do not want to eat that much fat. I cut it to 2-3 TB and added pasta water gradually to help the veggies steam. As I am allergic to nuts, I added pecorino romano at the end, kicking up the flavor in what we found to be a bland recipe.

The squash in the ingredient list is already peeled and grated. The 25 minutes comes after that. I find it very helpful to buy peeled and cubed butternut or any winter squash, including pumpkin, if you find it at your market. Trader Joe’s usually has it this time of year, and so does my local farmers’ market. With this, you can shred the cubes in the food processor. Very quick.

My trusty sous chef peeled and grated the squash, and we used alot more squash and less bowtie pasta as did other commenters. I fried some fresh sage after the chile flakes, used more lemon juice with the nuts/almonds and added a couple TBSPs of goat cheese crumbles at the end. It was very tasty, like butternut squash ravioli with the squash on the outside.

What about using a package of frozen riced butternut squash? I just saw that in the freezer section with the riced cauliflower.

I was excited to make this but didn't end up liking it very much. It was bland, even with the nuts. I added Nom Nom Paleo Magic Mushroom Powder (a great umami booster), and grated a lot of parm over the top, and then it was ok. I'm going to punch up the leftovers by adding roasted veggies and a lot more cheese and baking it for some crunch on top. If I made it again, I'd use a lot more garlic, and add the pasta to the sauce earlier so that it could absorb more of the flavor.

This was okay. I liked the hit of lemon and the nuts, but the steamed squash didn't do much for me. I think this would be far better with thinly sliced and roasted delicata squash or small, quartered roasted brussels sprouts (then skip the steaming, but add the hot pepper flakes, toasted garlic and pasta water to the pasta itself once its done). Also, I think that 3/4 cup olive oil is too much. (I know, this isn't the recipe that's here, but I wasn't that crazy about the recipe as written).

One of my favorite winter recipes! This one comes together most quickly if you use a food processor's grating function. I have been known to throw a few handfuls of spinach into this, or serve with a side salad. The earthiness of the butternut, the chew of the pasta (a larger, chewer pasta shape does matter here), the crunch of the almonds (slivered), the tang of the lemon - absolutely perfect. And so simple! Definitely one of those recipes where the result is greater than the sum of its parts.

If you follow it to a T, use less olive oil. It was too oily! Maybe 1/2 cup.

The squash grating is laborious but well worth it!

Gotta tell you - I have made this twice and it just isn't good. A lot of work and really bland. I added chopped bacon and more red pepper the second time and it still isn't good!

Worth every (all) the squash wrestling minutes. Instead of nuts, used pepitas with lemon, and walnut and hot sesame oil as the finish. Also added andouille sausage. Appreciate this aglio olio twist.

Bacon. Add bacon.

Butternut squash peeling tip: start with a good peeler - the OXO is great. Cut the ends off the squash and then cut the bulby part from the tube-y part. With a good peeler, you it should take less than 2 minutes to peel - and I'm 72.

I've cooked this both with nuked then shredded squash and with the store-bought cubes. The former just takes too long for what it yields. The latter was OK, but the squash browned (425 degrees for only 20 minutes), so it was tough to make it a creamy sauce. At this point, honestly, this recipe is dead to me :D We liked the nuts and lemon topping.

Easy and adaptable. We were faithful to the ingredients but varied their preparation, roasting both the squash and the garlic.

I found the recipe to not have enough seasoning for the amount of squash I had leftover. Add extra 1T red pepper flakes, 1T garlic powder, and S+P for more oomph.

This was … not good. The nuts were weird and gross, and the rest was boring. Generous application of Parmesan made it edible, but not worth the level of effort and mess it took to make. Disappointing, as it sounded really good.

I thought this was tasty, but my family was not as enamored. They thought the squash was off putting. I thought it was a great flavor combo and the pecans in lemon and olive oil were the perfect topping. I probably won’t make a full batch again, but I might make a smaller one for me. Appears I have lunch in the fridge for the next few days

I loved this. With the leftovers, I would add butter and reheat in the microwave and it was like the kettle corn of pasta dishes. I found myself craving it as a midnight snack! Definitely will be on rotation!!!

After reading some of the comments, I tossed (store bought) cubed squash with olive oil, S&P & roasted at 400 for 45 minutes until slightly carmelized. I removed the garlic from the pan & added squash to the garlic/chili oil. I used about 1/4 C olive oil in total. Then, I added 1/2 lb of cooked pasta, pasta water & simmered until most of the water evaporated. Topped with pecans/oil/lemon juice and parmegiana at the table. Will skip the lemon juice next time. Success!

Based on previous comments, I tossed store bought cubed squash in olive oil, S&P and roasted at 400 until carmelized. Added that to the garlic cooked in a few T EVOO with red pepper flakes. Only made 1/2lb pasta, added that to the squash and cooked for a few min with some pasta water. Used same quantity of nut mixture (I used pecans). I’ll skip the lemon juice next time. Sprinkled with parmigiana at table. This was enough for 3 entrees. Will make this again!