Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce with Cottage Cheese
This easy and healthy butternut squash pasta sauce is made blending roasted butternut squash and red bell pepper with cottage cheese, parmesan, and pasta water. The result is a velvety, high protein sauce that coats pasta beautifully and creates a comforting yet nutritious pasta dish.
I love a creamy, cozy pasta sauce. As a dietitian, my secret to creating a luscious sauce that’s nutritious and higher in protein is cottage cheese. You might think I’m crazy, but fans of my popular cottage cheese “Alfredo” sauce and cottage cheese rose pasta sauce would beg to differ! It blends up so nicely that you’d never know it’s in there, and it does the same thing in this rich and creamy butternut squash pasta sauce.
In addition to roasted squash, we’re also adding roasted red bell pepper, shallot, and garlic. I find the sweetness of the pepper pairs nicely and it deepens the gorgeous orange colour of the sauce. We’ll blend these up with just a few other ingredients, and then it’ll be ready to serve. You’re going to love it!
What’s to love:
First off, it’s packed with nutrition. An [approximate] serving of this butternut squash pasta sauce packs 11 grams of protein! Yes, in the sauce! This is thanks to the cottage cheese, which also helps makes the pasta sauce a great source of calcium. The veggies add lots of vitamin C, and vitamin A (over 100% of the recommended daily value!). When your pasta sauce is made up of mostly squash and red bell pepper, you know it’s going to be nutritious!
Because the sauce itself has a great foundational protein content, I find it’s super easy to create a filling, high-protein meal by simply pairing it with a protein-based pasta. This sauce + a serving of protein pasta = 28g of protein!
Just roast and blend!
Another thing I love about making this pasta sauce is how little effort it requires. There’s peeling or chopping the squash! We’re roasting an entire butternut squash half right in a baking dish with the bell pepper, garlic, and shallot. After that, we just scoop the roasted ingredients into a blender and blend with cottage cheese, parmesan and reserved pasta water. The pasta water thins the sauce and helps it coat the pasta noodles better.
Before serving:
- After blending, you’ll likely want to warm the sauce up some more. You can just add it to your pot of drained pasta and bring the heat up to medium-low. Stir frequently until the pasta is warmed to your liking.
- I highly recommend serving your butternut squash pasta topped with more freshly grated parmesan. So satisfying!
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Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce with Cottage Cheese
Ingredients
- ½ small butternut squash, seeds scooped out
- 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thirds
- 1 medium shallot, quartered
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
- 1 cup cottage cheese, I use 2% M.F.
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus more for serving
- 1 340g box pasta, I use protein rigatoni, cooked according to package directions
- ¼ cup reserved pasta water
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Arrange the shallot quarters and garlic cloves in a small packet of aluminum foil and drizzle with half of the olive oil. Fold the foil over to seal the packet.
- Rub the other half of the olive oil over the halved butternut squash and bell pepper, season them with salt and pepper, and place skin side up in a shallow baking dish. Add the foil packet of garlic and shallot to the dish as well.
- Bake at 425F for approx. 30 minutes, until the squash flesh is soft and scoop-able. Meanwhile, boil the pasta according to package directions and reserve ¼ cup of pasta water before draining.
- After roasting, scoop the squash flesh out and place in a high speed blender with the roasted bell pepper, shallot and garlic.
- Add cottage cheese, thyme leaves, pinch of red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, and reserved pasta water.
- Blend on high until everything is combined and the mixture is smooth and creamy. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired, and blend again.
- Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and stir to combine. If needed you can warm it up a bit on the stove before serving with more freshly grated parmesan cheese.
