This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Barilla. The opinions and text are all my own, per usual!
This month marked the 8th annual Barilla® Pasta World Championship
, and after more than 140 years of perfecting the art of pasta, it was amazing to see the innovation that still continues with this simple-yet-versatile dish! With chefs competing from 14 different countries, there was no shortage of inspiring and unique recipes presented. From exotic ingredients like saffron, fennel pollen, oysters, and spruce tips to more traditional ingredients like tomatoes, garlic, basil, mushrooms, and shallots, it was a feast for both the eyes and the stomach, and I felt *hugely* inspired by the creativity used by the chefs in crafting each of their dishes.
You guys know I am alllll about eating seasonally, so I was especially drawn to chef Lea Marion of Sweden’s dish named ‘A Walk in the Woods’. It features a Barilla Spaghetti with mushrooms, onions, chanterelles, sorrel (a tasty leafy green that grows in the forest), and fresh spruce tips. Spruce tips are precisely what they sound like—they’re the green tender tips of spruce branches where new growth starts to appear, and have a very refreshing pine-y flavor. I loved the idea of incorporating this into a pasta, and definitely plan on experimenting with that in the spring when the spruce tips are growing here!
But as for the recipe I’m sharing with you today, I based it on Chef Jay Boyle of Norway’s ‘A Dish Inspired by Autumn’. It used simple ingredients in incredibly elegant ways, and the flavor palette was composed of squash, mushrooms, chestnuts, sage, hazelnuts, and truffles. I drew from the same palette to create this recipe, but kept the ingredients a little easier-to-find (aka no truffles and chestnuts in this one). I soaked some roasted hazelnuts overnight and then tossed them in the blender with some roasted squash and herbs to create a creamy sauce, and then topped it with sautéed mushrooms, shallots, and a toasted breadcrumb and hazelnut mixture.
While Chef Boyle used Barilla tagliatelle, I used Barilla Fettuccine since I like that it’s slightly thicker than tagliatelle and I love its texture. All these ingredients combined into a heart-warming dish that both comforting and good for you. Part of why I love pasta so much is that it’s the ideal canvas for fresh seasonal produce, and makes it easy to eat healthy and flavor-packed vegetables on the regular. The sautéed mushrooms added the most wonderful savory umami element to this recipe, and the sauce was basically like a concentrated essence of autumn flavors. Warm nutty hazelnuts, creamy buttery squash, perfectly al dente Barilla fettuccine, savory mushrooms, and crunchy breadcrumbs…you really can’t go wrong with it, guys. To see who won, you should check out all the behind-the-scenes details of the Pasta World Championship! I hope you enjoy the recipe + looking through the captures of the Barilla Pasta World Championship, and that it inspires you to create your own little pasta adventure! 🙂
Creamy Squash and Hazelnut Fettuccine with Sautéed Mushrooms
This delicious heartwarming pasta is like autumn in a bowl. With a creamy sauce that combines roasted squash and roasted hazelnuts, a touch of parmesan cheese, and some sautéed mushrooms combined with fettuccine, you have a wholesome meal packed with the best produce of the season!
Ingredients
Creamy Squash and Hazelnut Sauce
- 1 pound 10 ounces winter squash
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup roasted hazelnuts soaked in water overnight or at least 4 hours
- 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
- 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 clove fresh garlic minced
- 1 1/2 - 2 1/4 cups vegetable stock
- Salt to taste
Hazelnut Toasted Breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon crushed hazelnuts
- 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Sautéed Mushrooms + Fettuccine
- 1 pound box of Barilla Fettuccine
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 shallot chopped
- 12 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Creamy Squash and Hazelnut Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the squash in half and scoop out and discard the seed pulp. Place on a baking sheet, cut side facing up, and rub with the olive oil. Place in the oven and roast squash until very tender when pierced with fork, about 35 to 45 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Scoop out the tender flesh of the roasted squash and place it in a blender or food processor with the remaining ingredients. Blend until completely smooth. Set aside.
Hazelnut Toasted Breadcrumbs
Heat the olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium low heat. Add the garlic and stir to coat in the oil. Continue cooking until the garlic has softened, is aromatic, and light gold around the edges. Add the breadcrumbs and hazelnuts and stir to combine.
Spread out the breadcrumb mixture with the end of your spoon so that it covers the bottom of the pan evenly. Continue to cook until the breadcrumbs are toasted and deeply golden, about 2 to 4 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Remove from heat, transfer the breadcrumb mixture to a wide shallow bowl, and allow to cool. Once cooled, toss in the grated parmesan and chopped fresh parsley. Set aside.
Sautéed Mushrooms + Fettuccine
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and reduce heat to medium-low, and saute until softened and transparent, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, thyme, and salt, and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Continue cooking until the mushrooms have released their moisture, shrunken slightly, and darkened in color, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 3 to 5 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add a tablespoon of salt and stir. In a separate large pot, heat up the creamy squash and hazelnut sauce over low heat.
Add the fettuccine to the pot of boiling water and cook according to the package directions, stirring every minute. Once the pasta is nearly cooked, use a heat-proof glass measuring cup to transfer 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the creamy squash and hazelnut sauce and whisk until smooth.
Use spaghetti tongs to grasp the pasta and transfer it to the pot with the sauce, and mix until the pasta is evenly coated in the sauce. Add the sautéed mushroom mixture and toss to combine. Serve alongside the breadcrumbs to be sprinkled atop each serving.
I love everything you have ever created. One quick question: The creamy squash and hazelnut fettuccine is served on wonderful blue plates. Where can I find them ? Thank you.
Thanks so much Barney! The plates are actually from Portugal, I bought them when I visited and carried them on the plane with me all the way home haha! I wish I could point you to an online shop but I just got them locally from a little store.
Seems like a step was missed. From the bread crumbs toasted then mixed with parm and parsley; next mention is of butternut squash and hazelnut sauce. Just combine the bread crumbs into squash and that’s the sauce?
Hi Susan! The sauce is the roasted squash pureed with all the other ingredients listed under the sauce ingredient heading, “Scoop out the tender flesh of the roasted squash and place it in a blender or food processor with the remaining ingredients.” Later on in the recipe it tells you to toss together the sauce and the noodles, and have the breadcrumbs on the side as a crunchy garnish, so folks can add as much or as little as they like (depending on how much crunch you want). I hope this helps, my friend, and that you enjoy the recipe! xoxoxo
Delicious and quite easy to pull together! I could only find baby bella mushrooms instead of the porcini I had hoped for, but there was still plenty of earthy, comforting flavor. We’ve been on cheese overload after the holiday, so I skipped the parm in the sauce, but it was still rich and creamy. We could also only find chopped hazelnuts in a little bag rather than the whole ones, but it worked just fine to add the chopped in place of the soaked and there was a nice, subtle hazelnuttiness present. I paired with a simple homemade rye bread and it was a perfect dinner for the wintery weather we’ve been having!
Good God this sounds so awesome to me…
Having been raised, and now living again, in the foothills of Appalachia this just sounds like something my grandma or great grandma would have made. My grandpa spent hours upon hours through his live trying to save the American Chestnut, grafting them to many other trees, so we always had chestnuts in the fall when I was young. I suppose there are many growing in our woods but when I was young and dumb, I didn’t give a hoot for what grandpa was doing in the woods all the time. Regrets…I so have many.
I’m no great cook but I do enjoy it so will plan to try this one out as soon as I can.
Thank you for sharing…
It sounds like your grandpa was an incredibly man doing such important work. Native plants are so special and need to be cared for and preserved, they’re such a deep part of local ecosystems and food culture…so glad he was doing his part to help keep the American chestnut variety going. I’m hoping to plant some at our future homestead when the house is built out there someday. I don’t know if they’d fruit in my lifetime but it would be good to know that they’d be providing food and forest treasures for future generations + the local wildlife 🙂
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