There is nothing I love more than the combination of creamy, tangy goat’s cheese with sweet, roasted butternut squash and peppers...on top of a big giant bowl of pasta! This dish is a deliciously indulgent combination and it doesn’t involve any more cooking than boiling pasta and chucking a load of vegetables in the oven, so you can fully slob out and get drunk in front of the TV while you wait for your roasted cheesy feast to work itself out.
This is the ultimate comfort food. Yes, yes, I know that sounds fully filthy and lazy, but hey, let’s not pretend we don’t all love doing it! I like to leave this recipe meat free, but if you must have meat in your meal, a handful of lardons thrown in with the roasting vegetables works pretty well.
Ingredients (serves 4)
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 red peppers cut into large slices
1 red onion cut into wedges
1 handful of pine nuts
1 handful of lardons (if using)
4 cloves of garlic
350g Pasta
200g Soft goat’s cheese cut into rough chunks (don’t bother getting the scales out, just look for about this amount in the supermarket)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 bag rocket
black pepper
Directions
Throw all vegetables into a roasting tin with olive oil, garlic (leave skin on) pine nuts and lardons (if using) and put into a hot over (gas mark 6/250 degrees) for 45 minutes to an hour, turning occasionally.
During the last 20 minutes of the vegetables being in the oven, cook pasta according to packet instructions and drain.
Remove vegetables from the oven and squeeze the garlic out of the skin (discard skin). Toss the pasta through the veg and oil with the goat’s cheese until the pasta is has a slight creamy coating but some chunks of cheese still remain.
Season with black pepper and serve with rocket.
image via travelingmcmahans' Flickr