Kichen Experiments Ep. 1

Last night I found myself with a need to create dinner with what we had in the house. We had just finished a 15 mile bike ride and needed to get ready for the opera later that evening. What follows is a description of a lovely meal even my veggie friends can enjoy.

I started by roasting a butternut squash at 400 for 40-45 min. This gave me time to sit and catch my breath from the bike ride. (The squash was halved and coated in olive oil, salt and pepper. Then placed in a glass backing dish cut side up and 1/2" of water was added to the pan.) When the squash was finished and while it cooled I started a pan with olive oil and started water for pasta. While that heated I chopped half a large onion and tossed it in to saute with a sprinkling of salt. I did this over medium heat bringing the onions slowly to a slight carmelization. Now, with the squash cool enough to handle, I scooped it out of the shell and into the pan. Sauteing the squash and onion together; breaking up the squash as I went. Here, I stopped, and weighed my options for herbs and/or spices . I threw in half a tablespoon or so of a lovely herb mix we got from our local herb purveyor, Rosemary Pete, called Tomato Tantalizer. You could use sage or thyme with great results as well. I was using what was within arms reach. By now the mixture was beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan. I poured in a 1/4 cup of dry vermouth to deglaze the pan. With the vermouth added I could start to really break up the squash and smooth out the entire mixture, but it still wasn't right. I went to the pantry and stared blankly until inspiration hit, Half and Half. I grabbed the carton from the fridge and slowly added it in splashes stirring in between until it was the consistency I was looking for. The pasta was then drained and topped with the luscious sauce and devoured with glee.

After dinner it was on to La Boheme.