I am completely obsessed with Hokkaido squash now, also known in France as potimarron. I used to have an issue with pumpkin in savory dishes, and maybe I still do, but when you swap out pumpkin for this sweet substitute, everything gets better.
This recipe was originally printed in Bon Appétit a long while ago, where it involved using butternut squash and lima beans. I used potimarron and flageolets and roasted instead of cooking on the stovetop. What resulted was an easy dinner that is now one of my favorite ways to eat my newfound friend, the Hokkaido squash.
Pasta with Squash and Flageolets (adapted from Bon Appétit)
1 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 Hokkaido squash, in chunks
1 cup canned flageolets
1 cup penne pasta
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss olive oil, onion, garlic, thyme, cayenne and squash in a baking pan. Add some salt and black pepper to taste. Bake until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water. Remove squash from oven and, adding a quarter cup at a time, add pasta water to the squash mixture to help pick up the bits stuck to the pan. Stir to thicken the sauce. Add the pasta and toss, adding more water if necessary. Taste for seasoning.