Spicy Butternut Squash Pasta With Spinach Recipe (2024)

I also love butternut squash but hate to peel it. I find that making a few slits in the skin and then putting it in the microwave oven for 3 to 4 minutes makes the job much easier.

This was a big hit with the fam! A bit of sage with the squash. Salt at every step, and salt, pepper and red pepper flakes at the end, with a drizzle of good olive oil. Next time would make a quick pickle of jalapeños instead of using them raw, to take the edge off and add some acid.

I added a carrot to the squash for more color and I wish I had a family to which I could serve this.

Amazing recipe! Highly recommend. I used a Dutch oven and subbed ricotta for the mozzarella. I broiled the dish in the oven for three minutes to make the pasta crispier. Super comforting fall dish.

I will try this soon, but will save my peeler. Since the squash is to be mostly mashed anyway, much easier to leave skin on, halve and de-seed, bake until nearly done and scoop flesh out of the skin...my preferred way of cooking squash. The cut into chunks and brown as called for.

I'm confused on cooking the squash -- 6 cups is way too big for a skillet, so the dutch oven makes sense, but if you're cooking in oil you're only really browning the squash at the very bottom of the pan, and the rest isn't even being steamed (since there's no other liquid added). If browning is what you're after, doesn't it make more sense to roast the squash in the oven to brown all of it at once?

Added Italian sausage and doubled the cheese. My family raved!

This recipe turned out horribly. The timing was incorrect and spice quantities questionable. Honestly why throw jalapeno rounds on top of red pepper flakes (and I like spice) without rounding it out with other flavors? Wish I had gone curry like the alternate but with that profile the cheese flavors don't mix and you'd have to sub in something more appropriate.The result, compounded by two competing Presidential town halls has basically sprained my marriage

This was a lovely dish. Definitely undercook your pasta, don’t be skimpy with spices. I would leave the squash cubed instead of mashing half—the mashed squash plus mozzarella makes this a bit soft and some contrast is needed.

Made this for dinner tonight. I am usually not a fan of squash or pumpkin in a pasta dish, but this really worked well. It was quick, easy and delicious. A couple of variations for my family's preferences: I would increase the chili flakes and add 2 or even 3 (instead of 1) jalapenos. I would also double the amount of mozzarella. The recipe is versatile enough to switch squash for other vegetables of our choice. Which I may do (thinking cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus or mushrooms...)

When a NYT recipe says it serves 4, I figure 3 is more likely. This is an exception - easily serves 6. I could not figure out where the flavor was going with cumin or curry, take your pick. I tried using half as much cumin, a little smoked paprika, and then added some dukkah for crunch and more seasoning on top of the cheese. It worked out well and we’ll make it again.

Indeed, the most time-consuming part is peeling, seeding, and cutting up the squash, but I love winter squash, ans this recipe really hit the spot on a cool, damo, blustery evening. Made in my Dutch oven. I think it could have used a higher squash-to-pasta ratio, however: 2-1/2 pounds of squash seemed to get lost in a pound of pasta . I think I would have added more spinach, too. But it was basically good and came together quickly once I got the squash seeded, peeled, and diced.

Used delicata squash because it’s what I had on hand and I didn’t peel it. Swiss chard instead of spinach. Don’t skimp on salt and spices and cheese. Nice autumn baked dish.

I always put the ricotta in a food processor before I use it. You'll be amazed at how smooth and creamy it is. Think of the smooth filling for cannoli, but without the sugar.

Where do you live? I’ll swing by for a to-go order!

Halve recipe

This is excellent with the addition of a really good smoked paprika- i add it in addition to the cumin

What a strange pasta recipe but my family weirdly loved it. Reminded us of a combo/supreme pizza. We 1 1/2 the amount and it fed 7 adults and 2 kids with no leftovers. To the recipe we added a pound of sausage and a whole sliced red pepper. Pickled jalapeno is a must! We used tame jalapenos for the flavor but not the heat. Don’t skimp on cheese and or spices. Each bite of this pasta is new, you don’t know what you’re going to get. We’ll make again.

Lots more work than Smitten Kitchen’s Winter Squash and Spinach Pasta Bake, which uses dry noodles and bakes longer. Cumin is a nice touch, though, and 1 lb sautéed bulk hot sausage was a hit. No reason not to just use one pkg frozen spinach instead of 3 cups fresh.

This dish came out dry. I added more vegetable broth and some heavy cream after it came out of the oven. Definitely did not add the seeds of the jalapeno. It needed more mozzarella cheese. It serves at least six and is good leftover.

Roast the squah at 400 degrees

The kids did not like this at all… it was only ok.

Disappointed. Pretty bland despite how much salt or cheese. Honestly after I made it and re-thought the ingredients, they really don't go together. Dont recommend.

Solid make-again meal. Transferred to 10x14 roasting pan after step 5 for more surface area, broiled after about 15 min at 400° to get extra brown. Also roasted the butternut squash seeds (with a little oil, salt, and pepper) and served on top.

This was disappointing. It smelled good when initially cooking the squash, but ended up a bland sticky mess. Not worth the trouble.

I felt this was too much work for the end product. It didn’t need mozzarella. That added nothing but stickiness. Parsley was also unnecessary. The final product was good, but not excellent for the amount of preparation it required. To me, that is the key element.

More mozzarella and more squash

This dish is amazing and is my go-to any time I have guests over. I wouldn't change a single thing!

Sort of a disaster of a recipe. Roasting the squash is vastly better for the amount listed if you want it to be uniformly cooked and not a huge pain. Tubular pasta makes no sense because there's no heavy sauce to catch in the tubes -- something like farfalle or rotini would make more sense to hold the pan sauce but pair with the chunky shapes of sqaush. Finally, there are so many great Italian chilis. None of which is the jalapeno. This recipe is ungainly and poorly constructed.

This was hearty and delicious. i bought already cubed squash. I omitted the jalapeno and my husband added hot sauce to his taste.