Not for the faint of heart this rich, sweet, savory dish of velvety-ness accompanies pork cutlets and sautéed green beans for a stunning fall supper.
Serving Size: serves 4
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- 1 cup roasted butternut puree, made from 1 small butternut squash
- 8 ounces fettuccine pasta
- 1 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sherry
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup homemade chicken stock
- 2 large fresh sage leaves
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
To roast the butternut squash, preheat the oven to 375°. Slice the squash in half, from stem to bottom. Scoop out the seeds. Sprinkle a baking dish with olive oil and place the squash, cut side down into the dish. Roast until the flesh is fork tender, about 20 minutes. When the squash is cool enough to touch, remove the outer peel and place the flesh into the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth.
Cook the pasta in salted, boiling water until al dente, about 10 to 12 minutes for dry pasta.
While the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the sherry until smooth. Add the heavy cream and chicken stock. Continue to stir until the sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sage leaves, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to the lowest setting for several minutes so that the sage infuses the sauce.
Remove the sage leaves from the sauce. Stir in the butternut squash puree and Parmesan cheese, season with salt and pepper. At this point if the sauce is thicker than you like you can add a few spoonfuls of the pasta water.
Drain the pasta and toss in the sauce. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
