Butternut Squash Spaghetti

I had no idea what I was going to make when I peeled and cubed a butternut squash, drizzled it with olive oil, S&P, and a dash of cayenne and popped it in a 450º to roast for about 25 minutes.

I looked around for what other ingredients we had and found a head of radicchio, a bag of hazelnuts (delicious Freddy Guy's hazelnuts from Oregon), and same grated parmesan. Spaghetti -- easy, quick and delicious.

I melted some butter and added olive oil and the hazelnuts and let them fry for just a minute. I removed the nuts with a slotted spoon and to the same fat added chopped fresh sage, sliced garlic, and dried chiles. After just a couple seconds I added in the head of radicchio, thinly sliced, a pinch of salt and just a touch of sugar since my butternut squash was not super sweet. The radicchio cooked for about 3 minutes until just wilted.

After I drained the pasta I put it back in the cooking pot and added in about 1/2 cup of reserved pasta cooking liquid, the roasted squash, the radicchio mixture from the skillet, a good sized handful of parmesan cheese, and a couple good grinds of black pepper and tossed everything over a very low flame until a creamy sauce formed but the squash wasn't broken up.

Crunchy, sweet, savory vegetarian dinner for two.