squashed spaghetti

i’ve been fantasising about squash, sage and spaghetti all week and tonight i finally got the opportunity to make something to satisfy my craving - it was definitely worth the wait!

unfortunately i couldn’t get any sage but the rosemary i picked up instead worked just as well.

i think i'll cook something similar quite soon, as the thought of adding blue or goats cheese is now lodged in my head…

squash, rosemary and pancetta spaghetti (serves 4)

1 large squash

3 tablespoons olive oil

5 sprigs rosemary, bashed

100g smoked pancetta, diced

50g butter

juice of half a lemon

spaghetti

peel the squash (i find the y-shaped vegetable peelers most effective), remove the seeds and cut it into small cubes (around 1cm). mix with a few tablespoons of olive oil, 4 sprigs of rosemary, salt and pepper. roast at 200c for c20 minutes until soft. remove the rosemary and keep warm in the oven.

fry the pancetta until crispy – i don’t add any fat as the pancetta releases its own as it cooks. add the butter, finely chopped leaves from a sprig of rosemary, squash and lemon juice and heat gently to allow the butter to melt and the flavours to meld.

add your pasta, plus a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid, and serve with lots of parmesan and black pepper.