Spoil the gluten free people in your life with quinoa pasta baked in a butternut squash gorgonzola and mozzarella cheese sauce with bacon and fried sage.
Actually - spoil everyone in your life with this dish, not just the gluten-free. Because quinoa pasta is the bomb. Especially when smothered in cheesy, butternut squash sauce, punctuated with chunks of bacon and topped with fried sage.
This Pasta Bake scales up or down with ease.
This recipe serves 12, but easily scales up or down. The dish somehow manages to be both rustic and elegant, making it perfect for casual family dinners and dinner parties.
Making dinner for a family of 4? Cut the recipe in half and bake in a 8 or 9-inch baking dish. Hosting a holiday party? Double or triple the recipe. When pureeing the butternut squash sauce in the food processor, mix in batches.
You can also assemble the entire dish ahead of time, storing it covered in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking.
📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Butternut Squash Pasta with Gorgonzola, Bacon, and Sage
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. (approximately 5 heaping cups) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 lb (16 oz.) pasta TresOmega Gluten Free Quinoa Pasta
- 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
- 8 oz gorgonzola cheese + 2 oz for topping
- 1 lb (16oz) fresh mozzarella
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1 ½ lbs thick cut bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- Pinch of nutmeg and cayenne (â…›-1/4 teaspoon of each)
- 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth
- 8 oz. mozzarella, shredded
FOR THE FRIED SAGE LEAVES:
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 bunch fresh sage
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- Toss squash with olive oil and about 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast until fork tender, approximately 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Fill a large saucepan with water, add a tablespoon of salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook pasta until slightly underdone - about 7 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
- In a food processor, add the squash, eggs, gorgonzola, fresh mozzarella, and milk. Process until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Heat a large saucepan over medium high heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp but not burned. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon to a plate covered in a couple of layers of paper towels.
- Pour all but 1 tbs of bacon fat from the pan. (Do not pour bacon fat down the drain. Pour into a bowl, allow to cool, and then scrape into the trash.)
- Add 1 tablespoon butter to the bacon fat and heat over medium until melted. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft and translucent. Add the garlic, crushed red pepper, nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.
- Add butternut squash puree and chicken broth to the pan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Remove sauce from heat and stir in pasta. Pour the entire mixture into the buttered baking dish. Cover with shredded mozzarella and 2 oz gorgonzola.
- Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling up around the edges of the pan.
- Let sit for 15 minutes before serving, while you fry the sage: Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sage leaves. Cook, flipping every few seconds, until the sage is darkened, but not burned. Top the baked butternut squash pasta with the sage leaves and serve.
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Rhonda Keelin says
Got a question for you, I don't have a food processor would a blender work ?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Rhonda! I'm sure a blender will work fine, but I'd suggest not blending the mozzarella with the other ingredients. Instead, just cut it into very small pieces and stir it into the pureed butternut squash mixture after blending it. I'm afraid the mozzarella will gum up your blender. Please let me know if you have any more questions! And, I'd love to know what you think of this after you make it! xo