Last week was a complete roller coaster of emotions. Tuesday was my 27th birthday. Wednesday, I had a really tough hospital situation (boo), a haircut (yay!), a flu shot (boo), and a random woman come up to me and tell me that I was very pretty (yay!).
With all of those emotions, my goal this year is to try not to mindlessly eat when I’m sad, tired, or stressed. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to be intentional about it. Like on Wednesday night, I went to the Thai place next door to my hair salon, bought a big plate of vegetable pad Thai, and ate the whole thing. Healthy? Not exactly. Comforting? Oh yes.
Carbs are my comfort food. Throw in some roasted vegetables and baked goat cheese in a recipe from Cooking Light, and I might not even feel bad about it. Erin and her husband came over the night I was preparing this to pick up her share of our CSA and said, “I hope that makes it on the blog because it smells delicious!” It tasted pretty good too.
The pasta doesn’t have much of a traditional sauce, but the melty goat cheese can be broken up to kind of coat the noodles a bit more. I particularly liked the caramelized bits of squash.
Baked Goat Cheese & Roasted Winter Squash over Garlicky Fettuccine
source: Cooking Light as seen on Prevention, RD
Yields 4-6 servings
Ingredients
6 cups kabocha or butternut squash (about 3 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp salt, divided
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, minced (or 1 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 lb uncooked fettuccine
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Place squash and bell pepper in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil; toss well. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, rosemary and black pepper. Bake at 425 F for 40 mins, stirring once.
Place goat cheese in freezer for 10 minutes. Cut cheese crosswise into 16 equal rounds. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Dredge each round in breadcrumbs; place on baking sheet. Bake at 425 F for 6 minutes.
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Return pasta to pan; add reserved pasta cooking water, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, red pepper, and garlic, tossing to coat. Place 1 cup pasta in each of 4-6 shallow bowls; top each serving with about 1/2 cup squash mixture and 2 goat cheese rounds. Garnish with rosemary or thyme sprigs, if desired.
