SQUASH AND BACON PASTA

SQUASH AND BACON PASTA image

Number Of Ingredients 9

4 to 5 slices of bacon
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly
1/2 pound pasta (I used ricotta and spinach ravioli but I think anything would do)
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, cut into bite-sized pieces
nutmeg
spinach
goat cheese
small handful of fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons
salt and pepper

Steps:

Cook the bacon in a large fry pan. You're going to combine everything in this pan or in your pasta pot, so use the largest you've got. Once the bacon has cooked, remove the bacon from the pan and set the bacon aside. The bacon I used had very little fat, (~1tbsp) if you have a lot you might want to drain it off. Cook the onions on low-medium heat in the same pan, scraping up all the juicy bits left over from the bacon. Once soft and caramelized, add the squash, salt and pepper, and nutmeg, cooking until the squash is soft and cooked through. My squash still held its shape, but broke easily when sliced with a fork. Add the spinach, stirring it around with the onions and squash. It might seem like a lot of spinach (I used an entire bag) but it wilts down quickly. After cooking your pasta according to package directions, drain the pasta and add it to the spinach, onions, and squash, tossing to combine. Crumble the goat cheese over the pasta and veg, tossing it gently. It will melt down and become deliciously saucy. Crumble the bacon over the top, add some fresh torn basil, salt and pepper for a final flavour tweak and you're done