Pasta with Butternut Squash and Bacon

This is such an easy, delicious and quick mid-week meal.  My only regret is that I used streaky bacon rather than pancetta which would have sounded so much more sophisticated in the title.

Scatter some peeled, diced butternut squash over a baking tin.  Flatten 3 unpeeled garlic cloves with a knife and throw them in too, along with a really good glug of extra-virgin olive oil (about 5 tablespoons).  Roast these in a hot oven (180 – 190 degrees) for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, add about 150g mushrooms (quartered), a red pepper (diced), some fresh sage leaves and about 200g streaky bacon, each slice cut into three pieces.  Pop some of the bacon over the top so that it crisps up well.  About 15 minutes in a hot oven should finish this off nicely, but it’s not right until the bacon is frazzled.

When it’s done, and your pasta is cooked, set the crispy bacon to one side while you finish off the rest of it.  Stir through about a dessertspoonful of freshly grated parmesan and plenty of salt and pepper.

It would, of course, be just as delicious and even more colourful if you used chorizo instead of bacon.

Stir all of the vegetables complete with the garlic-infused oil into the pasta and divide between your plates.  Finish with a sprinkling of sage, parsley, parmesan and a couple of bits of artistically arranged bacon.

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