it's not just red or white

There is another saucy option for pasta!

A few years ago there was a special episode of Iron Chef America that pitted teams of Iron Chefs and guest chefs against each other. In one corner was the Boy with the oversized grill, Bobbly Flay, and White House Executive Chef Comerford. In the other corner, croc-wearing Mario Batali and where-has-he-been Emeril Lagasse. The secret ingredient was the Obamas' vegetable garden in the White House and probably the most enjoyable part was watching the four pick apart the garden like hyenas feasting on a carcass. Lovely analogy, I know.

Anyways I always poke fun at Food Network personalities but one of the one's you just can't resist ridiculing is Mario Batali. I think it was an episode of Ciao America in which Mario visited gelaterias and pizzerias somewhere on the East Coast. Nothing wrong with that, except he couldn't wait for the food to be ready before eating it... half-served cups of gelato, partially-cooked pizzas and subs... oh yes, Mario was quite memorable.

But he made up for it all with a single dish that ended up securing a resounding victory for Team Batali-Lagasse. The heavenly dish was butternut squash and goat cheese ravioli, crafted from garden to table and made super-fresh. The three judges - Nigella Lawson, Jane Seymour, and Natalie Coughlin - couldn't find one bit to critique about the ravioli. Their praises were so deliciously descriptive that I had to find a way to mimic the dish...

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Take out a pack of goat cheese (mine was 8 ounces) and let it sit on the counter... you don't want to mix cold cheese because, well, it's hard mixing cold cheese. Besides, you don't want to mix ingredients with extremely different temperatures. The cheese doesn't have to sit out for hours, just half an hour or so to approach room temperature.

Start with some chopped butternut squash. Trader Joe's sells some conveniently cubed butternut squash in the salad section and that's what I like to use. I've only cracked open a whole butternut squash once and let me tell you, the shape and girth of that squash does not make it easy to halve. If you know how to handle the gourd, then by all means use a fresh one. Just saying, the pre-chopped squash is already cleaned, cut, and measured.

Though, if you see any large chunks (greater than one inch,) feel free to halve them. The smaller the pieces are, the more well thoroughly the squash will cook, and well-cooked squash is essential to making a smooth sauce.

Toss the cubed squash with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven for 40-50 minutes. After roasting, take the squash out and let it rest for no more than 10 minutes. It's the same reason I let the goat cheese warm up: you don't want to add very hot substances to cooler cheeses.

gettin' ready to mix it up

You know what to do: blend!

so tasty... it already smells good and I haven't even turned the hand mixer on

When it turns this lovely light orange shade, you've mixed well. This butternut squash and goat cheese mixture has a light tangy taste. It's not really a sauce, it's a bit thicker than your standard pasta sauce but feel free to mix in a little cream if you prefer a consistency more akin to liquid.

A few stray cubes are okay but if you have a lot of unmixed butternut squash, you didn't cook the squash long enough!

it's certainly tempting to eat this straight out of the mixing bowl

I've never filled ravioli myself so I usually like to tackle the next best thing: manicotti. Manicotti pasta look like huge rigatoni shells and, because of their size, are very easy to fill. All you have to do is spoon in the butternut squash mixture.

However, Trader Joe's does not sell manicotti shells and I haven't been to a supermarket in a while. It turns out that the butternut squash and goat cheese filling is just as good served atop any shape of pasta, such as these bronze die-stamped orecchiette.

pasta of the gods

And that's how Mario Batali found a way into my stomach.