Serves 4
Total time: 1 hour (plus cashew soak. 30 minutes if using canned butternut.)
Active time: 20 minutes
Whether you’re lugging them home from the farmer’s market, or plucking them out of your backyard garden, October means it’s time for butternut everything. If you’re a butternut maniac like I am, then this is good news. But perhaps in your zealous lust for the creamy orange flesh you’ve come down with a severe case of Butternut Burnout ™.
Yes, butternut in your breakfast, soup, muffins and in your salads…it has taken its toll. No more sweet gingery autumnal goodness, you say. No more spicy warm cinnamon goosebumps. Butternut Burnout ™ means a steady diet of kale and chocolate forever more or at least until Spring.
However, there is a way to combat BB. And that’s by treating it with savory elements, rather than sweet. This Roasted Butternut Alfredo is sure to combat all of the damage done to you by those butternut waffles. The squash is roasted first, and then pureed with cashew cream to make a thick, autumnal sauce, that is lush, creamy and most importantly, savory. White wine, some sauteed onions and garlic…oh yes, keep it coming. Butternut forever! Butternut for life!
Notes
~ An average butternut weighs like 3 lbs. You don’t need that whole 3 lbs for this recipe, but you should roast the entire thing anyway. To roast, Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a large chef’s knife, cut the the round part of the butternut from the long part. Slice the round part in half and scoop out the seeds. Brush or spray parchment lightly with oil and place squash pieces, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until squash is very tender. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the squash needed for this recipe. Save the rest for whatever you like: soup, muffins, or just mashed up with some ginger, maple syrup and cinnamon.
~ You can make this with a can of butternut or pumpkin puree, too. Of course you won’t have the roasted squash to put on top, but them’s the breaks. It will still be yum.
~ You can also make this with any winter squash, I’d imagine. Pumpkin, delicata, acorn, kabocha….all good choices.
~ I like to have extra sauce to serve with veggies and stuff. If you have no such need, then this sauce will probably be sufficient for an entire pound of pasta.
~ I would have loved to use fettuccine or linguine here, but I didn’t have any. I ended up using strozzapretti, but that’s a bit hard to find. Fusilli would be a great choice, or a smaller pasta like orecchiette. I can see penne working, too! What I’m trying to say, I think, is that this is a great sauce for any kind of pasta.
~ As always, you can soak cashews overnight. Or soak em all day. Just try to remember to soak ‘em in advance so that you’re not waiting for the cashews to make the recipe. If you have a Vitamix or Blendtec type million dollar blender, well, luck you! You can skip the soaking step.
Ingredients
1/2 pound pasta (see note)
Sauce:
1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups roasted butternut squash (see note)
2 tablespoons mellow white miso
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
For the rest:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, quartered and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dry rubbed sage
3/4 cup dry white wine
Several dashes fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
For garnish:
Extra roasted squash
Pepitas, or chopped pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts
Directions
Once the squash has roasted, bring a salted pot of water to boil for the pasta. When boiling, cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, drain the cashews and place them in a blender with the vegetable broth. Blend until very smooth. Rub sauce between your finger and when hardly any grittiness remains, add the roasted butternut, miso, nutritional yeast (if using) and lemon juice. Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to make sure you get everything.
While the sauce is blending, start the onions. Preheat a large cast iron pan over medium heat, saute onions in olive oil and a pinch of salt for about 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds or so, just until fragrant. Mix in the sage and pepper. Then add the wine and salt and turn the heat up to bring wine to a boil. Let boil for about two minutes, to reduce a little.
Turn down the heat to medium low. Now add the butternut cream to the pan, and stir to incorporate the onions and everything. Heat through, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. The sauce should thicken a bit. Taste for salt and seasonings.
Oooh, creamy!!!!
Set aside some of the sauce (you can reserve a cup or so for veggies if you’d like to throw some on top.) Add the pasta, and toss to coat. Serve topped with additional roasted squash and a sprinkle of nuts.
Delicious. Really. Lick the bowl goodness.
🙂
My pickiest food critics ( my teen-age kids) said this dish was awesome!!!!! I should have made a larger batch.
Thanks very much for this recipe, it was amazing! I made this recently for my carnivore husband and myself, and his exact words were “this is as good as something I would get at a restaurant”.
If a five year old is eating it should I leave in the whine? I have read conflicting things about burn off rates of alcohol. This showed that not much burns off…http://www.ochef.com/165.htm
I really want to make this but my son is allergic to all nuts, is there an alternative to the cashew cream that you suggest?
This may be the first PPK recipe I didn’t like. It was too sweet…. and my child who usually eats this kind of thing wouldn’t touch it either. Maybe if it hadn’t been titled “Alfredo” my expectations would have been different. But, even then, I just didn’t like the taste. It was too sweet. Perhaps I used too much squash. I mashed it and then measure it….. that could have made it too dense. Any one else measure the squash differently?
Omnomnom!!! Just made this – delicious!! Love your site – thank you!
TDF! Amazing. Thank you!
This was SOOO good, Nutritional Yeast has def been an acquired taste for me, but I LOVE IT in this recipe. Sometimes I do more broth and squash and toss a ton of mushrooms and greens in it to make an awesome soup. Currently living my life by this sauce.
Isa does it!
Great recipe and taste!
The balance of flavours was amazing here!
I subsituted vermouth for wine and used brown rice miso, still turned out great!
Thank-you Isa your recipes are also so well flavoured. Bland is not in your vocabulary! (testament to this is Appetite For Reduction book) which should have been called appetite for flavour!
OMG. This was DELICIOUS!!! I made it this weekend with some friends and it was beyond amazing. Just that creamy pasta dish I’ve been craving since going Vegan in August.
Thank you ISA! 😀
I made this before and loved it! Any recommendations when doubling the recipe?
Holy macaroni, just made this, it is amazing! I asked a gentleman in my local suburban wine store for advice on which white wine to use – ultimately he recommended a pinot grigio, after I explained what I was making with it and looking for something dry with good acid that wouldn’t cook down too sweet because of the squash. When I told him ‘vegan butternut alfredo’, he proceeded to describe his recent forays into homemade vegan hot dogs! Who knew?
This was sooooo yummy. As a new vegan, I am experimenting with a lot of recipes with varying degrees of success. I love your website and everything I have tried here has turned out extremely well, but this one is a standout.
I sprinkled it with some of my home-smoked spiced almonds and wow, wow!
Thank you so much for this site, it is really an invaluable resource.
The other week i started making this sauce before I realised I was out of pumpkin… So I used roast eggplant instead (and thyme in place of sage). It was unbelievably amazing!
That sounds delish, too!
this is sooooo good. i made it several times last autumn/winter. but the only butternuts i can get in germany at the moment are from overseas, so i will just have to wait for autumn to come around again 😉
Microwaved the squash for 12 minutes on high because it’s summer and it’s hot but I really wanted to try this. And now I can’t wait to be hungry again to eat more.
How? How do you do it to have such amazing recipes – and such great opening blurbs – every time?
I just found your blog… your recipes are INCREDIBLE. Like most people, I am poor and time crunched. Bonus: I’m also occasionally pathetic–as in, more than 1 pan recipes are out of the question. Your recipes use familiar ingredients, are simple, healthy, and delicious. And add to that enjoyable commentary! Thank you SO much! You have brought my kitchen skills from pitiful to pretty freaking good!! =)
This was fantastic! Made exactly as written, using penne for the pasta. My family of three all enjoyed this and I ate all the leftovers over the next two days. Yum!
I saw two other people comment the same question, but did not see an answer. Sorry, if I missed it, but there are a lot of comments to go through. My son is also allergic to all nuts, what would I sub for the cashews? I’ve used a vegan soy creamer to veganize a baked potato soup. Would that work and if so, what amount do you think? Or another suggestion? Anyone?
Fantastic recipe! I made this last night and my husband, who is not exactly a fan of butternut squash and nutritional yeast, went back for seconds!
I wanted to share this tidbit: when I tasted the squash mixture in the blender, I was concerned because it tasted very miso-y, but I thought: “I trust Isa! Before I start tweaking, I must faithfully follow the recipe to the very end.” Sure enough, once the mixture simmered for a bit with the rest of the ingredients, it was golden!!
@ Sue Perez — if your son is allergic to nuts, then I suggest subbing an additional 1/2 cup butternut squash and a bit of extra nutritional yeast for the 1/2 cup cashews. The cashews mainly provide some extra creaminess and a hint of “cheezy” flavor.
This is incredible.
Super duper! I don’t use alcohol so I used more broth. I used miso broth instead of veggie broth, and almond instead of cashews. I also used onion and garlic powder because my kids are picky. Kids loved it and didn’t detect the squash! Sometime I will try it as written – I’m sure caramelized onions really add another level of sophistication.
omigosh! made this last night – FABULOUS!!! thank you.
I was looking for a creamy sauce in which to feature my fresh Chanterelle mushrooms and this looks like it will fit the bill. As a bonus I had all the ingredients on hand and the squash is in the oven right now. I went ahead and chopped it in half like the recipe said since I wanted extra for cubes to bake while finishing the sauce and pasta. However I must admit that I have become a little lazy, cooking my winter squashes whole and scooping out the flesh after they are soft, it is much easier.
The comment about needing an expensive blender caught my eye. I had been looking at the expensive blenders until I realized that my $39 warehouse Oster blender had already been making me creamy sauces without soaking the nuts. And the other day my son made a nut flour in it. I would have to be really sold to part with $400-500 for something else but I will rethink it if this blender ever dies.
After looking at the comments it seems I have been missing out on a great sauce. This should be yummy. Here’s to dinner tonight!
Fantastic! I did it as written, left the mushrooms on the side and liked it better without them. The whole family loved it.
OMG this was amazingly delicious. My only complaint – my sauce was a little thin, and I did follow instructions exactly. I added a little cornstarch at the end to thicken it. I might do less broth next time. So good, though.
This was delicious. I sauteed some spinach in olive oil to go on top, and it was a rich yet healthy meal. Normally I’m a big fan of cheese, but this had the savory-creamy factor I love in homemade meals and was much more nutritious. You’ve inspired me to do a vegan week.
Favorite pasta ever! Since the Penna a la vodka at least.
Subbed for cashews – sunflower seeds. Works perfectly and no allergy issues.
Subbed for wine – splash of cider vinegar + some more stock, just cause I didn’t have wine in the house.
YUMZ.
Second time I’ve made this & SO yummy. We’re not strictly vegan–just love Isa & this website! My teen daughter loves pasta and avoids dairy when she’s competing during cross-country & track seasons. So this recipe is a great find for us. Amazing to get this luscious creamy result from all these ingredients, had some fun asking family to guess what was in it.
I loooooooooooooooooooved this!!! Easier and even a little tastier, but still reminiscent of, Vcon pumpkin baked ziti. Mine came out a much brighter orange for some reason. FUN.
Made this several tiimes last fall – this time I roasted butternut and pumpkin and some onions to make the sauce, added some frozen peas to the pasta and some shrooms mixed it all together and threw in a lassagna dish, topped with breadcrumbs. Served with some collards.YUM. Thank you once again!
This is my go-to recipe. We love it and all of my friends are obsessed with making and eating it. We’re making it right now in fact, probably for the 10th time. Better every time.
I am going to turn this into a scalloped potato side for T’giving this year!
This is ridiculous! We wanted to keep eating and eating it. It was easier than I thought it would be. I told my husband I was planning to make it, and he said “sound interesting, where did you get the recipe?” When I told him it was from PPK, he said “then it’s going to be awesome, make it!” Seriously, everything I make from your website and cookbooks is incredible, and this is no different. Perfection.
I have made this many times. It’s incredible! This time we’re having it with shaved black truffles for Christmas Eve. Ooh la la!
Hi Isa,
I use all of your books devotedly in my kitchen for almost 10yrs and have just learned of a very serious tree nut allergy after a recent attack. I’m wondering if you could recommend or share a nut free creamy sauce recipe? I can only have peanuts at this time and am severely lacking in my nut-free cooking creativity.
Thank you!
Camille
Have you looked at the Sunflower Mac? Also, the pesto cauliflower soup! Maybe I will make a cauliflower cream for general use.
This is freaking delicious! For wine, I used a cheap Chardonnay from Trader Joe’s. And for extra veggies, I chopped up some broccoli. For protein, I’d suggest some roasted tofu.
This was super creamy (as promised) and very tasty. I think it must be the miso that gives it that parmesan-y tang? The flavors were reminiscent of a traditional alfredo. The squash makes it sweet and that was a bonus for my kids.
Great recipe. I’ll see how my leftovers reheat tomorrow at work. THANKS!!