On Sunday it was rainy and dreary and we just didn't feel like heading out for lunch. All the fresh ingredients in the house were destined for other meals this week. So I decided to put my "semi-homemade" hat on and see what I could whip up just from what was in the pantry.
The result was farro spaghetti tossed in brown-butter-sage-butter-fried white beans and butternut squash sauce. It was luscious, rich and hearty… with a touch of sweetness from the squash, and nuttiness from the brown butter. Actually, it tasted sort of like inside-out butternut squash ravioli. Yum. Quick yet satisfying and it was completely unnoticeable that it was nearly all from pre-prepared food.
And yes, we have a weird pantry. If you don't have this stuff on hand swap any other kind of pasta in and any other kind of white bean. If you don't have butternut squash sauce in a bottle, run out and get some (or make it from scratch, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the from-the-pantry meal).
- Handful of spaghetti (we used farro pasta)
- Oil (olive oil if you like – we used hazelnut oil for tiniest hint of nuttiness) – optional
- Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash sauce
- Can of White Northern beans
- A couple tablespoons of butter
- Fresh sage leaves (ideally – you can use dried for flavor if necessary)
Put the water on to boil with a pinch of salt. When it boils, put the pasta into the pot. If desired, add a little hit of oil to the water to help keep the noodles from sticking together. While the pasta is boiling away, heat the butter over medium-high heat. As it's melting, throw in the fresh sage leaves to infuse their flavor into the butter. In the meantime, open the can of beans and rinse with fresh water. When the butter begins to turn a golden color and brown flecks begin to appear (and the smell of the sage combined with the nutty butter flavor begins to make your mouth water), add the beans to the pan and saute. After the beans are warmed through and (if desired) have a little brown crust on them for crunchiness, add the butternut squash sauce to heat. After 8-10 minutes (for farro pasta, your mileage may vary), strain the pasta and add the pasta to the pan with the sauce. Allow the pasta to cook in the sauce for a few minutes.
Serve the pasta as a whole meal-in-a-bowl. Slurp as necessary but careful not to splash orange sauce all over your clothes. Enjoy!
