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.
Okay, so I know it’s February, but I just couldn’t resist! And it was SOOOOO good! I didn’t have any lemons (how that happened, I do not know, because I ALWAYS have lemons), so I used some apple cider vinegar instead. It worked just fine, but I could feel I was missing that special crisp lemony goodness. Still, this was simply awesome. YUM!
Just made this without the wine, cuz I unfortunately don’t have any at the moment. Used extra broth with a touch of apple cider vinegar, cuz that’s what I do have – this is delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks!! This was outstanding! Although, I’m not a big fan of sage. So, next time I’m gonna try a pinch of nutmeg. Yum!
Can I use something other than white wine (non-alcohol)?
while poking around in my freezer recently (too lazy to cook for one!) i discovered a bowl of sauce labelled “butternut alfredo isa, 11/2013”. i wasn’t quite sure if it would still be ok after all those months in the freezer, but it WAS! and such a delightful and unexpected treat, butternut in mid-july! still one of my favourite recipes of yours. and a reason to look forward to autumn 🙂
Only the 3rd recipe I’ve made from this site and they have all been very good (the seitan piccata was excellent – a notch above the others). Don’t skimp on the sauce when serving this, it’s not as filling as an alfredo so you don’t need to cut back and it adds a bit more flavor if the pasta is dripping with sauce (plus you’ll have extra sauce anyway)..
hello Isa, I’m allergic to tree nuts and peanuts, so can i substitute the soaked cashews for soaked sunflower seeds instead? xx
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This dish remains one of our favorites and with the addition of homegrown butternut squash it’s better than every this year! We always throw a handful of something green into the finished dish. Extra squash? Of course! It will go into Isa’s famous pumpkin muffins, cookies, or waffles this weekend.
This is so freaking good!! I made an enormous batch and am so glad I did because it’s amazing leftover too! I used vermouth instead of the white wine because I had it on hand, I added some thyme, and I used a combo of butternut, delicata, and some random little squash I got at the farmer’s market. I will definitely make this again!
I have made this a few times and I can’t believe how unbelievably good and rick this tastes. My friend also has made this for her family a few times and we are addicted. We have also decided that this sauce goes with just a bout anything. We have added it to lasagnas only to be told it was the best lasagna ever and even added it to burritos in place of sour cream.
This is bar none the BEST butternut squash Alfredo recipe there is! I’ve tried several and made my own versions but this one wins EVERY time. I use sherry instead of white wine because we tend to like the bit of sweetness sherry adds. I also add sauteed leeks or greens to mix it up. I made this for Thanksgiving and I’m making it for Christmas dinner (twice) this year. It’s always a huge hit will everyone vegan or not.
Thank you so much for all of your creative beautiful recipes over the years. Your cookbook is consistently my go-to cookbook. I finally unloaded about 3 crates of cookbooks and down to about a dozen now but find I use yours 90% of the time. Works right in to my simpler life style. BTW, I’m a 60 year young mom so probably not your typical fan ; ) xxoo
I liked the recipe as is pretty well and later I used the leftover sauce to make a casserole (potato, carrot, and broccoli). It was absolutely delicious. I will probably make the sauce again just for that.
This was really fabulous and even though the sauce used more nuts that I am allowed it made such a big portion. Thanks
I have brown miso, will this work? what is the difference?
Looks yummy thanks!
Any nonalocolic sub for wine such as a splash of
white vinegar?
Made it exactly as described and very yummy thanks!
I’ve been making this as a fall staple for four years. I never soak the cashews long enough, generally works out fine. I usually make some garlicky burnt broccoli as a topper and I double the sauce and freeze in two batches for when I come home hungry and exhausted. This is the first time I’m making it this year. It makes me so warm and happy instead of sad and cold on this grey day. Thanks for becoming a part of my family’s comfort food tradition. I’ve made it for my parents, for friend’s bands when they tour in Europe and stop by with hunger and need for a home cooked meal and my husband’s generally traditional Czech family. They all rave about it ask for seconds. Drooling as our butternut squash from the garden roasts. Thank you again!
Also, it was originally posted on my birthday, best birthday gift EVER!
I made this recipe last night. It was really good! My omnivorous hubby was not too happy when I told him what we were having for dinner – but when we sat down to eat it, he cleaned his plate and raved about how delicious it was. We both love butternut squash so it is great to find yet another way to prepare it. Plus this was not too much work and it totally paid off.
Please, please, please people! Don’t ruin a beautiful, healthy recipe like this by using “cooking wine” that “keeps forever”… Buy yourself a decent bottle of Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay. Both are dry, white wines. Then after you use what you need in a recipe (and/or drink with your meal) take the remaining wine and pour it into an ice cube tray, paper cup, or any container and freeze it. When it is solid, move it to a freezer bag and just store in the freezer until you need wine again for a dish. It’s easy, economical, and will make your cooking much tastier than the poor quality stuff called “cooking” wine. Cheers!
Oh my word, this is a fabulous recipe! We just finished eating it, and I seriously wanted to lick my plate. Isa, you’re a genius and I love you!
made this as a (Canadian) thanksgiving side to accommodate a few stray vegans coming by, and EVERYONE had seconds!!! many thanks, this is a keeper
I just popped in to tell you, belatedly, that this has been my family’s favorite recipe pretty much from the first day that you posted it. Thank you!
Butternut Alfredo Sauce is SO DELICIOUS! I made the pasta last week for dinner, but I doubled the sauce recipe so that I could us it on veggies as you suggested. I just made the BEST CASSEROLE with leftover cooked quinoa, 1/2 can chickpeas, chopped baby spinach, vegan parmesan (I make it with almonds, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and salt), and a BIG PORTION of this Butternut Alfredo Sauce. I sprinkled some water and Ume Plum Vinegar on top, stirred everything, and heated it in the microwave. It was SO DELICIOUS!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this amazing dish!
Btw, I used soaked pine nuts instead of cashews because of an allergy. Pine nuts were just fine.
ISA! this is perhaps one of the very best things I have eaten in my entire life. It was the first meal I ever cooked for my now partner of 4 years and it’s still a staple in our house (partially cuz every once in a while he’s like… “we haven’t done that squash pasta sauce in a while eh?”). I even planted butternut squash in our garden in anticipation of my fall squash needs (including making this recipe over and over). I add steamed broccoli and cooked lentils to the pasta sometimes. it is excellent. you are amazing.
I made this last night for dinner. I have been working at home this week due to Covid-19. I roasted the squash at lunch time. It came together nicely. We thinned it out a bit as our was a little thick. We served it over Banza chickpea pasta. We are a little conservative in our portion sizes, so we will get 6-8 servings out of this recipe.We served this with broiled tofu and steamed, green peas.
My hubby thought this would be fab on flatbread pizza. Add some smashed chickpeas to the sauce with noodles for a faux tuna noodle dish.
The nutritional yeast really adds a nice cheesiness. When I loaded this into MyFitnessPal to calculate the nutritional info, At 8 servings, this has about 125 kcalories. At 4 servings, it’s about 250 kcalories. Bonus.
Very tasty. Definitely making this again.
Follow-up comment. We’ve had multiple meals from this batch of sauce. I was thinking that this sauce would be fab with some chickpeas added to it. It would be reminiscent of tuna noodle casserole. With the sauce, noodles and chickpeas.