Creamy Dairy Free Acorn Squash Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 medium acorn squash

• 3 tbsp butter, ghee, olive oil, or avocado oil

• 1 small onion diced

• 4 oz mushrooms sliced

• 4 cloves of garlic minced

• 1 cup small broccoli florets

• 2 cups chopped kale or spinach

• 12 oz pasta of choice (I like the GF Jovial and Tinkyada Brand Pastas)

• 1 cup full fat coconut or cashew milk

• ½ cup of pasta water or veggie broth

• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional - it gives the sauce a cheesy flavor)

• 1 tbsp butter, ghee, olive oil, or avocado oil

• Sea salt and pepper to taste

• ½ tsp sage and rosemary (optional)

Note: to increase protein content by 15-20 grams, use lentil or chickpea pasta, or add veggie meatballs like Beyond Brand)

Instructions

1. You’ll want to cook your squash while you make the rest of the meal. Slice your acorn squash in half and scoop the seeds out. If you have an Instant Pot, fill the bottom with 1 cup of water and pressure cook on HP for 15 minutes with QR. If you do not have an IP, you can roast the squash in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until fork tender.

2. While the squash cooks, melt 3 tbsp of butter in a large skillet and add the onion and mushroom with a pinch of sea salt. Cook the onion and mushroom over medium heat for 10 minutes until caramelized and fragrant.

3. Add the garlic to the onion and mushroom and cook for a minute. Add the broccoli & greens and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes until the broccoli is fork tender. You can get your pasta water going at this point so that you can boil your pasta while you get the skillet ingredients cooked.

4. To make the sauce, scoop the cooked flesh of the acorn squash into your food processor (or use hand blender) and add the coconut milk, pasta water or broth, nutritional yeast, butter, and sea salt/pepper to taste. Blend until smooth. You can add more pasta water, broth, milk or even water to thin the sauce out if you want. Add the cooked veggies to the blended sauce. Pour over cooked pasta. Enjoy!