Butternut Pasta w/ Caramelized Shallots

You guys loved that mixed mushroom pasta from a few Valentine’s Day ago and I think this one is… better.

My kids loved this without the shallots in there, which is an easy adjustment. I would say it could feed 2 with some leftovers, and 4 if you do small portions with a salad and garlic bread and need to save room for the chocolate tart. You could go up to ¾ lb. of pasta with no other changes besides a little more pasta water.

I have a reel up in stories to see what I mean by the “neck of the squash” - it’s easiest to peel and grate when you avoid the center seedy part.

Don’t mean to sound pretentious - but buy the good ricotta for this. Definitely whole milk. The cheaper ones are grainy, and we want this to fully incorporate. I used Murray’s, which I found at Ralphs (southern CA). Bellwether is an amazing one too. Creme fraiche would also be an excellent sub! Dairy-free folks - Kite Hill and Tofutti make a dairy-free ricotta. It won’t smooth in as well as the real deal, but it is good! Swap out the parm for 2 more Tbsp. of plant-based butter and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.

I LOVE Laura’s quick pine nut parm, if you’re up for another project.

We put crumbled up crispy bacon on top (it is a dreamy combo with squash and shallots) but by all means, not necessary.