Healthy Wintery Comfort Food

I'm intensely grumpy today. Messy house + upcoming microecon midterm do not make for a happy Kari. My day was noticeably improved, however, by this low-fat dish of shredded butternut squash, tomatoes, shallots, garlic, red pepper flakes, and penne--heavy on the veggies. I'm still grumpy, but dinner + a glass of vinho verde improved my mood significantly!

This recipe is from Mark Bittman's recent NYT article on "rethinking pasta"--upping the amount of sauce, and decreasing the amount of pasta, which you can find here. Sometimes I find Bittman's recipes to be boring and/or untasty (and yet his compendium is one of the best cookbooks out there), but this one hit the spot.

Pasta With Winter Squash and Tomatoes

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 cup sliced shallots

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 to 2 pounds peeled, cubed or shredded butternut or other winter squash, about 5 cups

1/2 pound cut pasta, like ziti or penne

Freshly chopped parsley or Parmesan for garnish.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots and pepper flakes and cook for about a minute; add tomatoes and squash, and cook with some salt and pepper.

2. When squash is tender — about 10 minutes for shreds, 15 or so for small cubes — cook pasta until it is tender. Combine sauce and pasta, and serve, garnished with parsley or Parmesan.

Yield: 4 servings.