Butternut Squash Fettuccine with Sage and Sherry
Roast the butternut squash cut-side-down in a 375° oven until soft, scoop it from the skin, and puree it. Melt butter in a saucepan, cook the onion until soft, then whisk in the flour and the sherry. Stir in the half-and-half and chicken stock, let the sage leaves infuse the sauce, then remove them and stir in the squash puree and Parmesan. Toss in the cooked fettuccine, thin with pasta water if needed, and garnish with parsley.
Squash and pasta has a reputation for heaviness — a one-note orange cream that sits where it should sing. The correction is two-fold and worth every minute: roast the squash instead of steaming it, and lift the cream with dry sherry and sage so the whole plate turns savory and aromatic rather than merely sweet. What arrives is a restaurant plate made quietly at home.
Roasting Concentrates the Squash
Halved, seeded, and roasted cut-side down until fork-tender, butternut squash loses water and gains depth — the edges caramelize, the flesh turns silky, and the flavor concentrates into a purée worth building a sauce around. Blitzed smooth in a food processor, that purée carries the entire dish. It is the difference between a sauce that tastes of squash and one that only looks the part.
The Sherry Cream & Sage Infusion
A light butter-and-flour roux gives the sauce its body; a splash of sherry whisked in first cuts the richness with a dry, nutty edge before the half-and-half and stock go in. The real perfume comes from whole sage leaves steeped in the warm sauce over the lowest heat, then lifted out — you want their savory aroma, not their fibrous leaves. Stir in the squash purée and Parmesan last, thinning with a ladle or two of pasta water until the sauce coats the fettuccine in a glossy sheet.
Butternut Squash Fettuccine with Sage and Sherry
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Drizzle the cut side of the butternut squash with olive oil and season with 1 teaspoon chili powder and some of the salt and pepper. Place the squash cut-side-down into a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until the squash is soft, about 20 to 30 minutes. Scoop out the squash from the skin. Place the squash into the bowl of a food processor (or use an immersion blender) to puree.
- Prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion in the butter until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute more. Whisk in the sherry until smooth.
- Stir in half-and-half, and chicken stock. Continue to stir until the sauce thickens, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sage leaves, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to the lowest setting for 2 to 3 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 1 teaspoon chili powder, salt and pepper.
- Cook the pasta, in salted, boiling water until al dente, just a couple of minutes. Drain the pasta (reserving some of the cooking liquid) and toss in the sauce. At this point if the sauce is thicker than you like you can add a ladle or two of pasta water to thin.
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
The Heart of the Table
Sized for four, this is a dish for the quieter kind of hospitality — a dinner cooked for the few people who matter, on an evening that doesn't need a crowd to feel like an occasion. There is a particular generosity in roasting half a squash to make a single, beautiful bowl of pasta, and it is never lost on the person across the table.
The Art of the Host
The tools are modest for how refined the result feels: a rimmed baking sheet to roast the squash, a food processor to purée it smooth, a saucepan and a good whisk for the sherry cream, and a pot for the fettuccine. Reserve a mug of the starchy pasta water before draining — it is the one thing you'll wish you had if the sauce tightens up on the plate.
Neighborly Grace
- The Preparation: Roast the squash before it becomes sauce so its sugars deepen, then fold the purée into a sage-sherry cream and loosen with pasta water to the perfect cling. Roast the squash ahead to make the final dish a quick one.
- The Pour: A glass of dry Amontillado sherry echoes the sauce, and a lightly oaked Chardonnay flatters the squash. For a non-alcoholic option, a sparkling pear cider or a sage-infused lemonade carries the autumn note.
- The Vibe: This is cozy autumn on a plate — silky, nutty, and gold, best twirled into warm bowls with extra Parmesan and a crackling fire not far off.