Butternut and Brats Pasta – AIP
Butternut squash with pasta and brats – ? What the – ?
When a family member first suggested this recipe, I couldn’t imagine it working. It just sounded weird. But, this butternut and brats combo works well, thanks to the unexpected collaboration between whole lemon, garlic, and good brats. It’s a regular in our rotation now, and it can be totally AIP (autoimmune Paleo) friendly – just use a grain free pasta. My favorite for this dish is Tolerant Organic Lentil Penne Pasta. It’s hearty in texture and flavor, and beats the bland, limp taste and texture that rice pasta can suffer. For the bratwurst, a good option if you are sticking to AIP, SCD (specific carbohydrate diet), or just fiercely avoiding sugars (common in cured or processed meats including sausage and brats) is this Organic Chicken Bratwurst from Whole Foods. Any favorite brand of your own will do!
If you have time to bake a fresh organic butternut squash, this tastes best, IMO. If not, a good option can be tapped with this organic canned butternut squash. It makes the recipe even faster and easier. And speaking of fast and easy, a couple of tools are handy for this recipe, if you don’t have them already: An ice cream scoop, to scoop fresh butternut out of its skin; and, silicone oven mitts, so you can handle said butternut once it is out of the oven. Since the recipe calls for adding honey and ghee to the butternut while hot, you’ll need to scoop it out just about fresh from the oven.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
- 1.5 pounds organic butternut squash (whole squash weight, before preparing for bake)
- 1 15 oz can organic butternut squash (if not using fresh squash, use this instead)
- 1 12 oz package organic chicken bratwurst (see link to Whole Foods brand above)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1-2 Tablespoons honey
- 1-2 Tablespoons ghee (butter ok if preferred)
- 2 scallions chopped
- 1 lemon (1 large or 2 small lemons), cut in quarters, seeds removed
- 1 package Tolerant Red Lentil Penne Pasta
- salt and pepper to taste
- If you are baking a fresh butternut squash for this recipe, start this about 90 minutes before you want the dish ready. - Slice the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds, and place face down in a glass ovenproof dish with 1/2 inch of water in it. Use two dishes if needed. - Place in a 400 degree oven and bake x 1 hour, til a knife poked through the skin moves easily through the squash. - Once baked soft, remove the squash from oven. Scoop the baked squash out of its skin - an ice cream scoop works well for this task. You may want to wear silicone oven mitts too, as the squash will be very hot, or simply let it cool enough to handle. - Scoop it into a mixing bowl or food processor. Add the ghee (or butter), honey, and dash of salt. Blend til ghee/butter melts through and all ingredients are evenly mixed. Set aside, keeping the squash warm. - If using canned squash, heat it in microwave or on stove top, add ghee, honey and salt, and set aside.
- Remove bratwurst from the package and slice it into thick coins, before cooking.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet to medium-high temperature. Add the sliced bratwurst and brown on both sides of coins.
- Lower heat to medium and add minced garlic and scallion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, enough to soften but not burn the garlic.
- Squeeze juice of each lemon wedge in to the sauté to deglaze the pan. Once juice is squeezed out, drop each lemon quarter in to the skillet and continue cooking on low-medium heat for 2 more minutes, so the lemon rinds soften.
- Stir in the cooked squash and blend well with the sauté.
- Toss the squash sauté over the cooked pasta and serve warm.
We happened to have a bigger than usual squash to use up on the day that we cooked up this recipe - so our images show a lot of squash. No need to go that big, but it works either way.
