Butternut Squash & Pennoni Pasta

If this is your first time logging on to this blog welcome. I started this blog as a way of documenting my struggle with food addiction. My goal is to loose 70 pounds this year. This is my present to myself for my 60th birthday. To begin at the begining scroll down to the blog titled Chronicles of a Food Junkie, dated 12-17-12.

Butternut squash provides an abundance of vitamins and nutrients that help us prevent a variety of serious diseases. One look at it's deep golden color and you know that this vegetable is packed with beta-carotene, an important antioxidant that assists in reducing the risk of a number of life threatening conditions. This vegetable is high in fiber, low in fat, easy to cook, and has a sweet nutty flavor that's irresistible.

Because of it's high fiber content butternut squash helps aid in digestion. If you're watching your fat intake, like I am, this is a super food to help fight the bulge battle, and it aids in combating heart disease and diabetes.

Some other benefits of this beautiful gourd is that it's full of potassium, which helps lower blood pressure, combats cardiovascular disease, aids the nervous system, provides relief from joint stiffness due to arthritis, helps manage headaches and migraines, helps in healing cuts and bruises.

How the hell can you go wrong eating this vegetable? Butternut squash is one bad ass vegetable.

Here is a nice recipe I make with butternut squash. Of all the dishes I cook Geraldine goes wild when I make this one, and she is just about the healthiest person I know, so it must be good. I use whipping cream, Asiago and Roman cheese to make an Alfredo sauce, Italian chicken sausage, pasta, crushed black pepper, fresh mint from the herb garden, herbs of Provence, and julianne red bell peppers. I cube the squash, steam it for 5 minutes, and saute it with evoo until it's nice and crispy. Because of the whipping cream and the sausage I have to watch how much of this dish I eat.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Pennoni Pasta with butternut squash

Ingredients:
1 pound Pennoni pasta
1 1/4 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon herbs of Provence
1/8 pound grated Asiago cheese
5 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese + more
1/2 julianne red bell pepper
crushed black pepper to taste
salt to taste & for cooking
1/2 butternut squash cleaned and cubed 1/2 inch
1 pound Italian chicken sausage
1/2 cup of mint medium diced
Olive oil for cooking

Directions:
1) Cook the sausage on medium/low heat for about 20 minutes, 4 turns 5 minutes each turn. Let cool and then rinse under hot water to remove excess fat. Slice on the bias about 1/3 inch thickness.
2) Clean the butternut squash. Cut the skin off with a French knife, remove the pulp and seeds with a table spoon and dice into 1/2 cubes. See photo above right.
3) I a small steamer cook the cubed squash for about 5 minutes or until al dente. Make sure to not overcook it.
4) In a saute pan with a little olive oil, salt, and crushed black pepper saute the butternut squash. See photo above right. Set aside.
5) In a large 6 quart pot with boiling water and salt cook the Pennoni pasta till al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain after cooking.
6) While the pasta is cooking, in a medium sauce  pan bring the whipping cream almost to a boil and add the grated Asiago and Romano cheese until fully incorporated. Add extra cheese if it is not thick enough. Stir constantly during the cooking process. See photo above to the left.
7) Clean and slice the red bell pepper and mint
8) Incorporate the pasta, the Alfredo sauce and add pepper and salt to your desired taste, then add the mint, the squash, the sausage and garnish with the bell pepper. I don't saute the bell peppers, I add them raw for some crunch. Add additional Romano cheese on top.

Food Consumption: 1-25-13

Breakfast: Home fries, 2 eggs over easy, 1 piece whole wheat toast, 1 banana

Lunch: 1 chicken sausage link, two pieces of whole wheat bread, large glass of orange juice

Dinner: Large bowl of leftover pasta

Snacks: handful of nuts and raisins

Exercise: 6 miles walking