This cozy roasted butternut squash pasta is served with a zesty lemon tahini sauce and makes for a comforting fall/winter meal! This post is sponsored by Barilla®.
There’s no way around it, cooler temperatures have officially arrived here in Richmond… and I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that they will be here for the next six-ish months. The change in weather also has me thinking a lot about the different foods I crave and enjoy throughout the seasons. During the summer, I want fresh, light, cool foods and during the fall/winter I crave hearty warm meals.
Recently, I’ve started to challenge those thoughts and play with the foods I typically crave in certain seasons. Take pasta salads for example: in the past, I’ve only made these in the summertime but I thought why not make a warm pasta salad using seasonal produce!? Whoever said pasta salads have to be served cold?! And who said you can’t have pasta salad as a meal?! We’re challenging all. the. things.
Ever since I found the new legume pastas from Barilla, I’ve been trying to think outside of the box when it comes to pasta, and we’ve been serving pasta as a meal more frequently. I love using Barilla legume pasta as a base because it’s made with one ingredient (in this case, chickpeas), it’s a good source of plant-based protein and an awesome source of fiber. Anytime I can have one ingredient filling those two roles in a recipe, it’s a win in my book! All of the Barilla legume pastas are certified gluten-free and Non-GMO Project Verified. Basically, these pastas check all the boxes in my book – so you can’t go wrong! PS: you can find them on Amazon!
For this recipe, I was inspired by roasted butternut squash, chickpea and tahini salad from Orangette I made many moons ago. I knew I wanted to incorporate seasonal roasted veggies – focusing on butternut squash. I love the full flavor the roasted squash brings to this dish. It really compliments the pasta and lets the tahini sauce shine!
Tahini is super trendy right now and for good reason… it’s so dang delicious and sesame seeds are loaded with nutrients like fat, fiber, protein and calcium to name a few.
The lemon tahini dressing used for this butternut squash pasta dish is so easy to whip up and tastes delicious on everything. I highly recommend making a double batch when you make this recipe so you can have leftover sauce. It’s perfect for drizzling over salads, topping cooked veggies and even spread on toast.
If you’re like me and totally obsessed with tahini right now definitely check out some of my other tahini recipes.
I highly recommend serving this roasted butternut squash pasta salad warm, but you can also eat the leftovers cold or at room temperature. To reheat, I recommend using low heat over the stovetop. You may need to add a little water or broth so the pasta doesn’t dry out.
Be sure to check out all of the butternut squash recipes and the full collection of dinner recipes on EBF!
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This is the best pasta I’ve ever had! I used frozen squash to save time and added roasted peppers and spinach. So delicious!
Woo!! That makes me so happy to hear. So glad you loved this pasta!! Thanks for trying it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
I come back to this recipe time and time again, whenever I find butternut squash on sale. It wouldn’t have occured to me to combine these flavors, but they go together splendidly!
So glad you’re loving this recipe. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it!
This dish finally convinced me to try cooking with tahini outside of the world of hummus and my mind is blown! The sauce is super simple to mix up and was confusingly delicious. Seriously, I did a double take after tasting. I had no idea what I was missing, but I’m just glad I know now. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Ahh yay, that makes me so happy to hear!! I’m so pumped you loved this recipe. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it. 🙂
I really like your recipes, but this one wasn’t a big hit at home. First time I was cooking with tahini and allspice and it made me realise I am not a big fan but I am happy I tried something new 🙂
So sorry to hear you didn’t love this recipe, Mariane. I appreciate you giving it a try though.
Can this tahini sauce be made without the added oil?
I haven’t tried it, but I think that would be just fine! I would maybe add in a tablespoon or two of water to replace the water to reach the consistency you are looking for.