Summer to Fall Caprese Squash Pasta

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Caprese Squash Pasta

This Caprese Squash Pasta bridges the gap between Summer and Fall by introducing butternut squash to a healthy caprese alternative!

Course Main Course, Stuff in a Bowl

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 4

Author Brewing Happiness

Ingredients

• 3 cups butternut squash, cubed
• 2 yellow squash, spiralized or julienned
• 2 zucchinis, spiralized or julienned
• 1 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup mozzarella balls
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, shredded
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper + 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Toss your cubed butternut squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
3. Spread the squash onto a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.
4. While the butternut squash is baking, spiralize or julienne the yellow squash and zucchini.
5. Heat a large skillet over medium low heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 2 cloves of minced garlic. Add in your zucchini & squash noodles, toss gently and sauté for 10 minutes.
6. After 10 minutes, transfer to a bowl and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast.
7. Add in baked butternut squash, tomatoes, mozzarella balls, and basil.
8. EAT UP.

I’ve been thinking a lot about distance these days. More specifically the role that technology can play into distance. About a year ago I moved across the country from all of my adult friends. My closest friends are now sprinkled across the big ‘ole US of A and keeping in touch can be a challenge.

I spend many hours in my week staring at my phone or computer screen looking at the pixelated faces of my friends. This is our hangout time. It’s the best form of connection we have. I love it so much and also feel completely limited by it. There are moments when I want to reach inside my phone and hug my friends. There are moments when I feel like I could scream, because somehow the 2d version of my friend’s faces almost makes it lonelier. 

The thing I love about food is that it’s completely the opposite. It’s so tangible, and texturized, and sensorial. Food is a physical connector. It’s a way to bring people together, and a way to connect our mouths with our bodies. It makes us more alive – both literally and metaphorically. Eating is one of the most real experiences we have, and we get to do it each and every day. 

Except, I realized, this whole food blogging thing is a lot like the Facetime version of a meal with friends. I give you the best version I can of the food – the recipe, the photos, the videos, the social media posts, etc. – but I can’t give you the physical experience. I can’t Snapchat you the smell. I can’t email you the taste. There is no digital way for me to have you over for dinner.

I get that sometimes that can feel intimidating – lonely even. Like, here I am over here with my perfect food in my perfect kitchen with my perfect lighting and I’m perfectly healthy blah, blah, blah. You miss out on the texture beneath it all. You miss out on the moment to moment intricacies of my life. You miss out on the mess and the imperfection. But I do my best to give you as much of myself, and as much of the experience of the food as I can despite the limitations of distance.

We’re all doing the best we can to try to make real connections here in this distanced, technology-filled world. I’m doing my best to give you food that feels real and true. Until technology allows me to physically appear in your kitchen and make you food, this whole food blogging thing will have to do. For now I can only hope that when you make this Caprese Squash Pasta in your kitchen, you feel the love that I put into the recipe.

Perhaps connecting through the emotion of the food is the best we have. (And if that’s the best we have I think we’re doing pretty great.) Because things like love, joy, and kindness – those things transcend technology. Those things dissipate distance. Those things are what *truly* connect us.