Rich, warm flavors and time spent snuggling up with family is what fall food is all about. Roasted winter squash — with its sweet nuances — makes a delicious central ingredient for many dishes.
Let me break some of your hearts and share a little secret about canned pumpkin: it's not really pumpkin. Well, not always. Often, it's blue hubbard squash or butternut squash. But it doesn't really make a difference. Any winter squash — whether it's pumpkin, blue hubbard, acorn, or butternut — can easily be substituted for another.
On the show, I show you a great winter squash "master recipe" — butternut squash roasted with butter, sugar, balsamic vinegar, sage, and molasses. It makes an intensely flavored puree that puts you just steps away from so many great dishes, including a spectacular Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, scented with toasted coriander, an easy ravioli, and a "pumpkin" pastina to serve in a roasted pumpkin.
Pastina — a tiny, pellet-shaped pasta — is the first solid food Italian babies eat. It's also my youngest daughter, Gianna's, favorite. She hollows-out individual pumpkins for serving the pastina, and makes goodie bags for all the pals she's invited over to share our Halloween feast.
