Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

This Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake is a delicious fall dinner!  Loaded with cheese and an entire butternut squash, making it so creamy and flavourful!

I know if there is cheese on a dish my kids will eat it, and the more the better!  Take this dish for example…Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake.  I get asked “what’s for dinner Mom?” and I say cheesy pasta.  They don’t even need to know there is an entire butternut squash in their meal, do they?  As long as they hear the word cheese and see it bubbling on our pasta bake they’ll eat it.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t sneak in nutrition, I just leave out the details sometimes…details shmetails.

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This dish is loaded with the flavours of soft cheese, crispy bacon, creamy butternut squash and a hint of sage. And it’s ooey gooey and cheesy.  Winner winner cheesy dinner.  Even my pickiest went back for seconds!

To Garnish or Not to Garnish?

If you want to get extra fancy, sprinkle on some dried sage as a garnish.  The flavour is quite powerful, so just be warned (truth be told my kids did not like the sage garnish…I didn’t really either…but it looked nice for pictures haha!)

But the cheeeeeeeese.  Oh the cheese.  This dish is full of cheesy goodness.  Does dinner get any better?

 So here you go, Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake.  A perfect fall meal.

Recipe Tips:

• Squash:  You can use canned fresh pumpkin or leftover squash from dinner the night before to make this recipe even easier! Just use about 2 cups of ready-to-go pureed squash or pumpkin.
• Make Ahead Tip!  Roast the squash the day before you want to make this pasta.
• If it’s too thick:  If you find the butternut squash sauce too thick, just puree in more cream! You might need to add a touch more sage so not to dilute its flavour with the extra cream.

Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

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This Cheesy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake is a delicious fall dinner! Loaded with cheese and an entire butternut squash, making it so creamy and flavourful!

• Author: Jo-Anna Rooney
• Prep Time: 45 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 cups dried penne pasta
• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups cream
• 1 tsp ground sage (more if you like)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups cooked and crumbled bacon

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, then chop the squash into chunks like in the picture above.
3. Then lay the squash out on a baking sheet, brush with the olive oil and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the squash is soft.
4. After the squash is done baking, use a spoon to scoop out the cooked squash, and add it to a food processor.
5. To the squash in the food processor, also add the cream and ground sage, and puree until smooth. Set aside.
6. In the mean time cook the pasta according to package directions.
7. Once the pasta is cooked, toss it with the butternut squash mixture.
8. Add half of the pasta mix to a 9 x 13 lasagna dish.
9. Sprinkle on half of the shredded mozzarella cheese, then add the remaining pasta mix.
10. Sprinkle on the remaining shredded mozzarella cheese as well as the shredded parmesan cheese.
11. Sprinkle on the cooked and crumbled bacon.
12. Bake for 25 – 35 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling.
13. Serve and enjoy!

More Delicious Fall Pasta Ideas:

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta

Cheesy Jalapeno Popper Baked Penne

Easy Three Cheese Stovetop Macaroni

Macaroni and Cheese With Broccoli

Have a delicious day!

This post is part of the YummyMummyClub.ca and Kraft Cheesefest #KraftComfortCheese sponsored program. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors.