Butternut Squash Noodle Acorn Squash Pasta with Ham, Pecans and Feta

Autumn Harvest Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta

Yikes. That’s a long recipe title. I didn’t know how to shorten it! “Harvest” simply...

Butternut Squash Noodle Acorn Squash Pasta with Ham, Pecans and Feta

Yikes. That’s a long recipe title. I didn’t know how to shorten it!

Harvest” simply means the gathering of crops in a season. Well, this season has brought plenty of Autumn vegetables to our local farmer’s market, and I’m determined to use all of them. During our customary Saturday morning trip to the market a couple blocks away, I stumbled upon kohlrabi near the beets. Holding up this vegetable by its green tops, I looked like a nervous magician, pulling a bunny by its ears out of a hat. What the heck is kohlrabi?

Butternut Squash Noodle Acorn Squash Pasta with Ham, Pecans and Feta

Seeing my quizzical face, Lu grabbed the bunny – er, kohlrabi – from me and asked the farmer to ID the vegetable. “Kohlrabi,” the farmer said, “it’s like a cross between a cabbage and a turnip.” Well, don’t mind if I do! Can you spiralize a kohlrabi? You will soon find out, dear readers, but for now, I’ve started off by cooking the green tips in this fall-themed bowl of pasta. They have a freshness similar to dandelion greens and a texture like swiss chard.

Butternut Squash Noodle Acorn Squash Pasta with Ham, Pecans and Feta

As for the rest of this dish, it’s an early Thanksgiving. Cranberries & ham? Check! The cranberries bring out the sweetness in the butternut squash. Basically, this is a stuffing with noodles. The diced ham is a nice surprise and pairs well with the salty feta. The pecans give this pasta the crunch it needs, while the roasted acorn squash pulls it altogether, giving it even more texture and flavor. You know what they say…. One can never eat too much fall squash!

Butternut Squash Noodle Acorn Squash Pasta with Ham, Pecans and Feta

All in all, I’m happy I found use for the kohlrabi greens and can’t wait to see if it spiralizes well. It’s sitting in my fridge next to the 56 peaches Lu picked. That man can eat so much fruit, it’s unreal…. I mean, he eats a full peach in three swift bites. Weird.

Have you found any interesting vegetables at the farmer’s markets lately?

Autumn Harvest Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 acorn squash halved, seeds scooped out/removed
  • 1 butternut squash peeled
  • cooking spray
  • 2 tbsp olive oil + more for drizzling
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 cup diced ham
  • 1/2 cup crushed pecans
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 3/4 cup feta cheese
  • 1 cup kohlrabi greens or other types of greens
  • 3/4 cup chopped red onion
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Drizzle the cut-side of the acorn squash with olive oil and rub in. Place the squash cut-side down onto a baking tray coated with cooking spray. Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. When done, set aside to cool.
  • While acorn squash is roasting, take your peeled butternut squash and chop off the bulbous end. Spiralize the body, using Blade C.
  • Place the spiralized noodles in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Mix together to combine and spread out on a baking tray lined with tinfoil. Season with salt and pepper and when the acorn squash is done cooking, place into the oven and roast for 5-7 minutes or until noodles soften. When done, take out and set aside.
  • When you place the butternut squash noodles into the oven, place a large saucepan over medium-low heat and add in the 2 tbsp of olive oil.
  • Once the oil heats, add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add in the red onion and celery. Cook for 2 minutes or until vegetables soften. Add in the kohlrabi greens, ham, and season with salt and pepper.
  • When the noodles are done, add them into the saucepan with the cranberries and stir to combine.
  • Plate the mixture into four separate bowls and top each evenly with feta and pecans.
  • Take your acorn squash and cut each half into four pieces, lengthwise. Top each bowl of pasta with two acorn squash pieces.
  • Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Noodle Acorn Squash Pasta with Ham, Pecans and Feta

Butternut Squash Noodle Acorn Squash Pasta with Ham, Pecans and Feta

Butternut Squash Noodle Acorn Squash Pasta with Ham, Pecans and Feta

 

with love, Ali

leave a comment

Recipe Rating




comments

  • Is there a quick way to print the recipes from your blog without printing the whole post? I find myself having to highlight the recipe card then copy to a word document to print. Just curious if I'm missing something...
    • Emily - no, don't do that! There's a "Print" button on each recipe car, right next to the "Save Now" button. Do you see it?
  • I don't see it! Perhaps it's my outdated browser at work... I'll have to try from home. Thanks!
  • Wow, this looks delicious! I totally agree with you that you can never eat too much squash...don't you love this time of the year??
    • David - yes, Autumn is my favorite time... lots of fun before we all go in and hibernate (or at least in the Northeast, we do!) love your blog, by the way! :)
  • You could call this recipe Autumn Harvest Squash Pasta for short. How about... Fall Pasta Bounty? IDK-I tried to help you out! :) I love the beautiful photos and the tasty meals you create. Thanks for keeping me and my family satisfied and coming back for more!
    • I know haha I should have kept it just as "Autumn Harvest Squash Pasta." Oh well - I do like Fall Pasta Bounty, seems very fitting! Thank you so so much for your kind words, I'm so glad you and your family like it.
  • Obviously I need one of these spiralizers!! This looks divine, I'm a sucker for anything of the season.
  • Hey! You got kohlrabi! I was one asking if you tried to spiralize them...can’t wait for your findings. Meanwhile, my grocer now has only baby ones, just slightly bigger than egg – so I cannot do much with them. We usually slice them and add to salads, cook with other veggies in the soups, or scoop the central part and stuff them..or just eat them peeled like crisp and juicy ‘savory apple’ with pinch of salt. For uninitiated – raw kohlrabi’s flesh tastes exactly like the core that holds together leaves of cabbage or florets of cauliflower.. it is member of cruciferous family or Brassica oleracea (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Veronica, Savoy cabbage or kale) , not really any ‘cross’ between something and it is very familiar vegetable in Europe. Comes as the cabbages – in light green or purple color (but only on the outside); when they grow over 7-8 cm in diameter they become quite woody and skin thickens – they always must be peeled weather you prepare them to eat raw or cooked! And Ali, give us some pictures so that folks can recognize it!!
    • Thank you so so much for touching base again! I remember you asking me about kohlrabi - maybe that's why I was so drawn to it at the farmer's market! Thanks so much for all of this great information. I will be posting up pics next week of my adventures .... thanks also for the flavor description. Can't wait to share...
      • No worries at all! Thanks for being so quick...wow. I doubled the recipe to use for our lunches this week. My boyfriend and I LOVED this so much!! I'm def stopping by the store to pick up about a zillion more squash because he's going to eat it all before we even get to Wednesday. Thank you for this one!
        • Glad to hear that!! So happy you're enjoying the recipes.. and your boyfriend is too :)