Roasted Squash & Goat Cheese Penne

by - 11:46 AM

This was seriously one of the most delicious vegetarian dishes I have ever made. After being tipped off by a few friends that this was the best pasta THEY had ever made and it included goat cheese - well I had to try it.

Giada De Laurentiis Penne with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

This particular recipe calls for butternut squash, and I was disappointed to find out when I went to the store that squash is still out of season here. I decided to modify with yellow squash and eggplant, and it turned out even better than I could have imagined. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Penne with Roasted Squash, Eggplant and Goat Cheese

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis 

Ingredients

Vegetable oil/olive oil cooking spray
2 Yellow Squash, cubed into 3/4 inch pieces
1 Eggplant, cubed into 3/4 inch pieces
1 onion, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
Olive oil, for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
1 cup (8 ounces) goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 packed cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Put an oven rack in the upper third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Spray a baking sheet, liberally, with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside. Mix the eggplant, squash and onion together and arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bake for to 40 to 45 minutes until the vegetables are golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.


3. While the squash mixture is cooling, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water.

4. Put the pasta, goat cheese and 1 cup of pasta water in a large serving bowl. Toss until the cheese has melted and forms a creamy sauce.

penne with goat cheese

penne squash goat cheese


5. Add the squash, eggplant and onion mixture, the walnuts and the basil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with Parmesan and serve.

Roasted Squash & Goat Cheese Penne

The goat cheese makes a great creamy sauce without the added fat & calories, and the roasted veggies add an awesome flavor. I promise you won't miss the meat.

If you can't get past the missing meat, you can bake/sear/grill up some chicken and serve this dish as your side! The best part is it tastes great warm AND cold for a few days of leftovers. Definitely adding this to my rotation!

Was a busy week for this fitgirl, so look for a post on running recovery tips next week and one last #fishfriday recipe for the last week of lent.

Have a great weekend and #LiveHealthy!
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