Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Feta | Recipe with Video

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Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Feta is the perfect autumn dinner dish. Colorful, cozy, delicious, and nutritious. And is so easy to make! Mixing baked Feta and baked Butternut Squash may seem surprising, but it works great. I think many people may remember the famous pasta with baked feta and tomatoes, which has won many fans around the world. The method of making this pasta is similar!

Every Friday my family eats a meatless dinner. This is a traditional Catholic rule that I follow. The best meat-free dishes are often made on Fridays. And believe me, this pasta with roasted butternut squash and feta is a great meatless dinner.

I used butternut squash, but if you have another pumpkin at home, you can use it. However, I think butternut squash is perfect because it has a well-balanced sweetness. If you use a different pumpkin, you can add some liquid honey or maple syrup to add more sweetness.

What exactly is Feta Cheese? And why you don’t need to add salt to this pasta 😉

Did you know that Feta Cheese is one of the oldest cheeses in the world? Origins of this kind of cheese could be traced back to the 8th Century B.C Ancient Greece, so Feta Cheese is really old, it’s like Gramma of Cheeses 😉 Feta cheese is one of the most important and well-known symbols of Greek cuisine.

The feta cheese is soft and creamy. It  has a rich, salty, sharp and tangy flavor. Because feta cheese is so salty, it is often not necessary to use extra salt in a recipe.

Feta cheese is stored in brine, in salted water. The salting process takes up to two months. Because brine can be high in salt, feta cheese is recognized as a high-sodium product.

Feta Cheese is traditionally produced using only whole sheep’s milk, or a mix of sheep’s and goat’s milk (not more than 30% goat’s milk). It has nothing to do with cow milk, food preservatives, or food colorants.

You have to be careful when it comes to feta. There are lots of feta imitations in the market. Fake feta looks quite similar to real feta and is often called ‘salad cheese’ by dairy producers. ‘Salad cheese’ is often made with cow’s milk, not sheep’s milk.

Ingredients You Will Need to Prepare Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta with Feta

Make sure you’re using high-quality ingredients.

Butternut Squash – Butternut Squash has well-balanced sweetness in this dish. It’s a real star of the autumn. Its beautiful color and great flavor make everything better ♥ Other types of pumpkin will also work well with this dish. Hokkaido pumpkin has a very interesting taste and has many nutritional values.

Feta Cheese – Get real feta. Do not buy cheese that only looks like feta. Better to buy a block of feta for this recipe than crumbled one.

Garlic – Garlic makes everything better 😉 At least in this recipe 🙂

Dried Oregano – This herb goes well with most pasta dishes. This recipe is no exception. You can replace the oregano with Italian seasonings.

Paprika Powder – Choose between sweet, hot, or smoked paprika powder. I often mix sweet and hot paprika powder. It gives me a great balance of flavors.

Fresh Basil – It’s best to add fresh basil only at the last minute or so of preparing your pasta dish. You can replace basil with fresh oregano, parsley, arugula, and cilantro – you name it!

Salt and Pepper – Salt and pepper enhance and add flavor.

Pasta – Choose any shape you want, but I strongly recommend using short-shaped pasta.

Olive Oil – use good quality olive oil.

How to make Roasted Butternut Squash Feta Pasta

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Peel the butternut squash. Hold the butternut squash in one hand, and use a vegetable peeler in the other hand to peel off the outer layer of the squash. Chop it into cubes. Don’t make cubes too small – they may roast too fast.

Step 2

Pour olive oil into the bottom of an ovenproof dish and spread it all over the surface. Place a block of feta in the center of a baking dish and add the butternut squash pieces. Place all the butternut squash cubes around it evenly. Add garlic cloves and a little more olive oil. Finish with oregano or Italian seasoning, paprika powder, black pepper, and chili flakes (if you like it a bit spicier).

As for the garlic cloves, you can peel them first and then add them to the butternut squash. You can also leave them with the skin. Cut off the tip of a garlic clove and after roasting, squeeze it from the skin.

Step 3

Put the baking dish in the oven and bake for about 35 – 45 minutes. The feta and butternut squash must be very soft. That’s how you know they’re ready. The exact baking time is difficult to determine because ovens are different. Moreover, the thickness of the feta and the size of the butternut squash pieces are also important factors and they may affect the baking time.

In the meantime, cook pasta until al dente. Al dente pasta is when pasta is tender but a little bit firm in the center. It resists slightly. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water. You may need it later.

Step 4

Mash the butternut squash and feta well with a fork or spatula. Add cooked pasta and basil. The basil should lose its volume and wilt. You can replace basil with other herbs. Gently mix everything. The ingredients should coat the pasta well. You can add more ground black pepper or red pepper flakes at the end.

Roasted Butternut Squash Feta Pasta – Printable Recipe and Video