When I was forced to cook for myself back in my undergrad years, and soup noodles with boiled bok choy and canned sardines was getting tedious, I would escape from dorm and stay with my cousin Sandra in downtown Montreal for the weekend.
We would pore over food
magazines, Epicurious, cookbooks or just bounced dinner ideas back and forth
based on our cravings. One food magazine we flipped through for inspiration
even in the frigid December was a summer issue of Donna Hay. She’s my first food idol, her
pictures are always alluring, simple and clean, her menu ideas entertaining and
fresh.
A while ago, Sandra had dated a tall, handsome fellow with the finest manners, even the Queen couldn’t stifle a crush on him. He had a sexy, deep chuckle to compliment Sandra’s shrill laughter and he always made her smile in a way that even her eyes twinkled. For her birthday, he bought her Donna Hay’s Instant Cook and on the inside front cover scribbled in thick black Sharpie was a love note that went something like this:
Happy birthday, may you cook many more
drool-worthy meals…so you can share it all with your friends, especially me.
I treated that cookbook
like my own, I studied each page like a textbook, furiously bookmarking recipes
that caught my attention. Sometimes I used my old Canon point and shoot to
photograph a recipe like the eggplant ricotta and parmesan bake.
However, my impatience to have my own cookbook grew too strong. One quiet morning, I succumbed to my unrelenting
Soon enough, a slender cardboard package arrived at my front door. I tore threw it like a kid on Boxing Day and jumped up and down. They might not have endearing notes scrawled on the inside, but they belonged to me, and it wasn’t long before I bought more of her books including Entertaining and Modern Classics Volume 1.
One of the things I love
about Donna Hay is the inspiring, easily adaptable recipes. I first made this pasta on Thanksgiving weekend back in October (we Canadians
celebrate the holiday a month before our neighbors). If you were here on the
East coast, you may recall how oddly warm that weekend was, so warm in fact, I
sat outside on the balcony in my pajama shorts and a t-shirt (short sleeves! in
the fall!) and slurped my pasta with the sun beaming on my face. And of course, the best part
of this dish is the brown butter. Did I get your attention? Repeat after me
folks, brown butter. Brown butter. Brown
butter. I don’t think I need to explain, it really is the best thing ever.
The brown butter is laced
into every noodle, the squash accentuating its caramelized flavour and the
parmesan tones down the sweetness with its salty pungency. This sauce is so
phenomenal, so brilliant, it will knock
your socks off. Don’t wear socks? Pants! It will knock your pants off!
The procedure is a
breeze: golden fat is slowly melted to a beautiful deep color, turning your kitchen into a nutty, sweet heaven. Then this liquid gold is tossed
with pasta and cubed squash plus a generous handful of sharp parmesan. Tada! That's it.
Just remember, brown butter makes everything taste ridiculously good. If it was drenched over cardboard, I bet you would like it too (but not advised).
Just remember, brown butter makes everything taste ridiculously good. If it was drenched over cardboard, I bet you would like it too (but not advised).
Pasta with Squash and Brown Butter
Adapted from Off
the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry by Donna
Hay
Serves 4
Donna Hay uses pumpkin, but I like using smaller
squash like butternut, it’s sweeter and easier to handle. If you use salted
butter or if your cheese is on the extra salty side, you probably don’t need to
add salt at the end.
Ingredients
1 kg (2 lb) squash,
peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
400g (14 oz.) fettuccine
or spaghettini
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely grated
parmesan cheese
fresh parsley, roughly
chopped
fresh black pepper
sea salt
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Peel and dice squash into 1-inch cubes, discard seeds. Put squash in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and soft.
- Just before pumpkin is ready, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain.
- While pasta is cooking, place butter in a large saucepan over low to medium heat and allow butter to simmer until golden brown in color. Keep an eye on the butter because it can burn easily. Remove from heat when done.
- To serve, place pasta in serving plates and top with squash and parmesan. Spoon over brown butter and garnish with parsley. Season with pepper and salt if desired.
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