Miso-Butter Pasta With Butternut Squash

Updated Oct. 14, 2021

Miso-Butter Pasta With Butternut Squash
Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(2,343)
Comments
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A true love match, miso and butter create a simple yet deeply flavorful pasta that hits all the right notes: sweet, salty and savory. Smashed garlic cloves roast with the squash to gently flavor it, then become silky-soft treasures you’ll discover while eating. Finishing the dish with lime cuts through the richness of the butter, but you can use lemon, too. Try using other vegetables like eggplant, pumpkin or carrots to make this dish your own.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2teaspoons white miso
  • 3 to 5large garlic cloves, smashed
  • pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes (see Tip)
  • 1tablespoon olive oil, plus more as needed
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1pound mezze rigatoni or other short pasta
  • ½cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
  • 1lime, zested and juiced (2 teaspoons zest, 2 tablespoons juice)
  • ¼teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

724 calories; 16 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 124 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 25 grams protein; 1051 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 450 degrees. On a sheet pan, mash together the butter and miso. Add the garlic and squash, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and toss to coat with the miso-butter mixture. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt and season with pepper. Cook until easily pierced with a fork and the raw taste is gone, 25 to 30 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, adjusting the heat to maintain a gentle boil, and cook until just shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain the noodles. If done before the squash, drizzle with olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Leave in the sink to drain.

  3. Step 3

    When the squash is done, return the pasta to the pot over low heat. Scrape in squash, garlic and any liquid that accumulated, then add the Parmesan and ½ cup pasta water, stirring well until the noodles have a light sheen to them. If it appears dry, add more pasta water a tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Stir in the lime zest and juice, season to taste with salt, and top with pepper and red-pepper flakes, if using. Serve with extra cheese.

Tip
  • Peeling and cutting the squash is the hardest and most time-consuming part of this recipe, so you can make it easier by using pre-cut squash or by softening the skin before cooking. To do so, trim the ends, prick the skin all over with a fork and microwave for 3 to 3 ½ minutes. This softens the skin and flesh — without cooking it too much – to make it easier to cut. Hold the squash with a kitchen towel, then use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin, and continue to cut from there.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
2,343 user ratings
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Comments

Think it would’ve been a bit bland as written. I roasted the squash with some sage/rosemary and removed them before adding to the pasta. I used a full tablespoon of miso for the miso butter and also added an extra tablespoon of butter and little extra miso when mixing the pasta and squash. Definitely needs the lime juice and zest. Really tasty recipe though, just taste and adjust as you go.

Blandish, next time I will add more miso paste for more flavor. The other thing I found helpful was softening almost melting the butter then mixing in the miso paste then I mixed it all together in a bowl then I poured it onto the sheet pan. I couldn’t visualize how to adequately cover the squash if I mixed the butter and miso in the sheet pan.

Made this as written except for upping the miso to 3 tablespoons. It was incredibly flavorful!!! The miso and lime blended together incredible well. Savory, umami, a nice spark of lime, hint of cheesiness. Easy to throw together! Five stars from me.

I’ve been making something like this for years. No butter needed, mix miso with a little white wine vinegar instead. Like others are saying, add sage, onion too. I usually fry some in olive oil to garnish, then cook sliced white onion in that. You don’t even really need the garlic once you have those onions all sweet, but it’s nice too. Add your favorite protein (I use plant based sausage) and it’s addicting.

Very tasty! As the notes suggested I did 2 tablespoons of miso and 2 of butter. I forgot to add the lime and it still tasted great. I would make again

Made this with EVOO instead of butter (was a little tough to mix the EVOO and miso but worked fine), blended part of the roasted squash/garlic in a mini prep smashed the rest with a potato masher and combined into a chunky sauce and added spicy chicken sausage. Delicious! And not bland at all.

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