Real Food by Dad

A food blog with fun, quick & easy recipes.

Butternut Squash Tortellini Bake

by 69 Comments

The waffle iron is broken (probably from overuse!), I was out of bacon and most of the cheese in the house was depleted. In fact, the refrigerator and pantry were looking pretty bare, so what follows is a vegetarian style dish.

Butternut Squash Tortellini Bake via Real Food by Dad

Yep, vegetarian. I know, gasp. I did that too when I realized my protein intake would be in the negative as I was making this. But then . . .

Two bites later—who cares! This was so much better than I expected. Cole and Naomi had seconds, which is saying a lot for those two, who tend to eat like birds.

Butternut Squash Tortellini Bake by Real Food by Dad

This started out a hit from the get-go with Cole. As soon I pulled the roasted butternut squash out of the oven, he was up against the counter, chin on the top of his hand—waiting for it cool. It wasn’t long before he kept plucking them off the bakesheet. I had no idea the kid liked it so much, any other time I would have let him go to town and eat as much as he wanted. But I had a dish to compose and pictures to take.

Butternut Squash Tortellini Bake from Real Food by Dad

So, he just followed me—watching, waiting, hovering. I didn’t object, I just put him to work. I love it when that happens. I love it even more when my family enjoys my dinner as much as they did with this one. Now it’s off to Amazon to order a new waffle iron.

Butternut Squash Tortellini Bake

Butternut Squash Tortellini Bake

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. cut and ready to cook, cubed butternut squash
  • 1 lb. tortellini, cooked
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 6 sage leaves
  • 1/2 cup leeks
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
  • Topping
  • 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

  1. Place cubed butternut squash on a bakesheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 425 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes or until slightly golden brown and fork tender. Remove from oven; set aside to cool. Transfer cooled butternut squash to a food processor or blender and process until pureed. Set aside.
  2. Melt butter with olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add in sage leaves and cook until crispy. Remove and discard sage leaves. Add in leeks and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle in flour and whisk for 30 seconds. Pour in milk and add in pureed butternut squash. Whisk to combine and cook until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Toss with tortellini and transfer to a casserole pan. Set aside to make topping.
  3. To make topping: Combine panko crumbs with parmesan cheese and toss with melted butter. Sprinkle on top of tortellini. Transfer to oven and broil for 2- 3 minutes or until topping is golden brown.
© Matt Robinson

 

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Comments

  1. HalfBakedHarvest says

    I am good with no meat, especially when pasta, cheese and butternut are involved. This look so good and so cozy!

    Reply

  3. Arman @ thebigmansworld says

    It’s dishes like this which would have me converted to a vegetarian..

    …A vegetarian who will eat a steak the next meal. Looks delicious mate!

    Reply

  6. Liz @ FloatingKitchen says

    Looks delicious and I can imagine is certainly was a crowd pleaser. Butternut squash is so my jam!

    Reply

  11. Annalise says

    This is a perfect weeknight meal! My family goes crazy for butternut squash so I’m sure this will be a hit. Pinning!

    Reply

  17. Ashley | The Recipe Rebel says

    I can’t believe your waffle iron is broken! Well, maybe I can. lol. Are you feeling any symptoms of withdrawl? Surely this warm, saucy pasta dish would be some awesome comfort food!

    Reply

  18. Alice Choi says

    Matt, I love this post!!! Reading about Cole and butternut squash and having him follow you around. . so cute!! Poor kids. . mine know now that I usually have to take photos before anything can happen. . and they hate it. anyway, love the vegetarian dish!! Love that you are mixing it up . . even though you were kinda forced to make this . . and you couldn’t bake this in the waffle iron. 😛

    Reply

    • realfoodbydad says

      I love being followed around by my boys. I’m happy he is still at that stage, where he volunteers to go with me to get gas, drop off mail, whatever, as long as it’s with Dad 🙂

      Reply

  19. David @ Spicedblog says

    I love the tortellini + squash combo here. It’s like comfort food meets the Fall. Or the Fall meets comfort food. Either way, it’s awesome! It should at least keep me busy thinking about it until your waffle iron gets fixed and you post some more crazy awesome recipes. Nice work, my friend! #WolfpackEats

    Reply

  22. Shareba says

    That pasta bake looks so lush and rich, and perfect for fall. How long did it take you to make from start to finish? I’m wondering if I should try this for dinner tomorrow or wait until the weekend… hmm…

    Reply

  33. Brie Guilfoyle says

    First and foremost – this looks unreal! I’m wondering though – how many servings would you say this makes? Not that it matters since I’m probably going to double/eat it all anyway – haha!

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

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