What do you do with too much squash?

I thought it was time again for a recipe post. I hadn't talked food in a while, and as the weather gets cooler, I get to cook more of my favorite foods. :)

The past few weeks have brought us many baby butternut squashes from our CSA share. I like the squash, yes, but I didn't know what to do with it other than roast 'em, mash 'em,  put 'em in a soup. (10 points for the reference!) I happened to be at Cost Plus World Market yesterday, and stumbled across a jar of Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce. I thought, "Hey, I could do this!" so I bought some pasta I thought would work well (real Italian fusilli!) and some tomato paste in a tube (<3 that stuff) and went home to plan.

After looking at the few recipes I could find on the Web, I decided to make up my own. And it turned out to be amazing. So, if you're faced with an abundance of squash this winter, or just want to try something new, try it. You'll be pleasantly surprised. It's perfect. People seem to forget how common this veggie is in Italian kitchens this time of year!

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash
2 cloves of garlic, cut in half and crushed with side of knife blade
1 medium bell pepper
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Olive oil
Crushed red pepper flakes
Fresh basil

Preheat oven to 375F. Peel and seed the squash. Cut it into 1-2 inch chunks. Toss with olive oil, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg. (I just used about 1/2 t.of each the first go-round). Put squash and garlic cloves in a flat, rimmed baking pan. Roast in the oven for an hour.

Meanwhile, seed and dice the bell pepper. Saute it in a splash of olive oil. Then stir in the tomato paste. Set aside until squash is done roasting.

Remove squash and garlic mixture from the oven. Puree in food processor with about 1/4 cup of water to get desired consistency. Add in tomato paste and pepper mixture and about 1 T shredded fresh basil. Puree again. (This can leave a bit of the pepper texture if desired.) Add in salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.

Use a short pasta that will hold sauce well. I used fusilli and it worked awesomely!

Move the sauce to a large serving bowl. Reserve about 2 T of the pasta water. Stir into the sauce, then stir in 1/2 lb of cooked pasta. Top with more shredded fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!! If you don't like things spicy, leave out the chili flakes. If you like really spicy, add more than just a dash. Or throw in some Sriracha!

Not-So-Secret Bacon Brownie Recipe

That was seriously fast! You all really want this bacon brownie recipe, huh? They are quite delicious, if you, in fact, love bacon, chocolate, or any combination of salty and sweet.

My recipe is incredibly top secret. (Note the sarcasm?) Here you go.

Kara's Bacon Brownies

Take your favorite brownie mix, whether it be homemade or from a box. I prefer the chewy, fudgy Pillsbury ones. 

Prepare the batter as you normally would. 

Cook up 4-6 slices of bacon, again of your choice, to be nice and crispy. 

Drain the bacon and crumble it. 

Mix the crumbled bacon into the brownie batter. 

Pour batter into your greased pan.

Bake as directed. 

I used Hormel Maple Bacon last night, and it worked incredibly well. If you really like lots of bacon, then you could probably add up to half the package, but I wouldn't go too overboard, because it could affect the consistency of the finished product.

Nom and enjoy!!