This pasta bake is a delicious way to celebrate the flavours of sage!
With its strong aroma and minty, slightly bitter flavour, sage is never used raw and a little goes a long way (especially as it can withstand long cooking times without losing flavour). Bought fresh as downy leaves or dried and chopped, it is packed with a good dose of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin K, the unsung hero of cardiovascular and bone health. It’s rich in antioxidants and can help support your brain and improve memory function. It’s antimicrobial properties are also marked, and often find their way into household cleaning products. As a member of the mint family, sage makes a surprisingly delicious herbal tea, sweetened with a dose of honey and a squeeze of lemon.
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- 1/2 butternut squash (about 600g), peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm pieces
- 125 g smoked bacon lardons
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. dried sage
- 40 g butter
- 40 g plain flour
- 400 ml semi-skimmed milk
- 50 g Parmesan, grated
300g rigatoni pasta
- 300 g rigatoni pasta
- Small handful sage leaves, larger ones shredded (or use 1tsp dried sage)
- 125 g mozzarella, torn
- Step 1Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. On a baking tray, mix the butternut squash, bacon, oil and dried sage. Loosely cover with foil and roast for 30min, stirring halfway, until tender.
- Step 2Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt butter in a medium pan over low heat. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 30sec. Remove pan from heat and gradually mix in milk to make a smooth sauce. Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, until thick (the mixture will need to boil). Stir in most of the Parmesan and check seasoning.
- Step 3Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook pasta according to pack instructions, until just al dente. Reserve a ladle of the cooking water, then drain and return pasta to the pan (off heat). Remove half the squash (avoiding the bacon) to a bowl and mash. Stir mashed squash into the sauce then mix sauce into the pasta, adding a little of the reserved cooking water, if needed, to loosen.
- Step 4Spoon pasta mixture into a rough 2-litre ovenproof dish and top with the remaining butternut squash and bacon, sage leaves, mozzarella and reserved Parmesan. Cook in oven for 25min, until golden. Serve.
If you're catering for vegetarians, use Italian hard cheese (rather than Parmesan) and just omit the bacon.
If you don't have time to bake this pasta in the oven, simply stir through the cheeses, bacon and all the butternut squash. Fry off the sage leaves in a little oil, until they are crispy.
If you're a fan of this pasta bake, then we have lots to try.
Per serving:
- Calories: 727
- Protein: 30g
- Total fat: 31g
- Saturates: 16g
- Carbs: 79g
- Total sugars: 13g
- Fibre: 7g
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
