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Occasionally I get tired of the lunch routine at our house.  A quick sandwich, a luna bar, maybe a warmed up can of soup, and on the really good days, leftovers.  Today I couldn’t face the pile of bagels I saw laying on the counter(especially with no cream cheese in my dairy free life at the moment), so I moved dinner up to lunch.  Now we’ve enjoyed a warm, fall lunch with a lot of leftovers for tonight.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite and most versatile cookbooks, How to Cook without a Book by Pam Anderson.  I recommend it.  The dish highlights a seasonal favorite of ours, the butternut squash.  If we didn’t entice you with the fall pie, maybe this will be the one.

Pasta with Butternut Squash, Bacon, and Thyme

• 1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into medium dice
• 1 pound pasta(short and stubby, like rotelle or orechiette)
• 4 tbs rendered bacon fat from 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 medium garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• Parmesan Cheese to taste
• Black Pepper to taste

1.In the skillet, fry bacon over medium heat until crsip, about five minutes. Remove bacon with slotted spoon; set aside.  Saute garlic and thyme with the rendered bacon fat.

2.Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts water to a boil over medium-high heat in a soup pot; add 1 tbs of salt and pasta to the boiling water. Using pasta box guide, cook pasta, partially covered and stirring frequently, until about five minutes from doneness.  Add the prepared butternut squash and continue cooking until pasta is done and vegetable is tender.

3.Drain pasta and squash, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

4.Add pasta mixture back to pot, along with contents of skillet, and cooking liquid. Toss to coat.  Add bacon with parmesan cheese, toss to coat.  Add pepper to taste.

note: I cut my squash into 1 inch cubes, rather than reading the directions more carefully.  Stick with the medium dice, it will work better because it will cook quicker with the pasta and blend more easily with the flavors.

We’re enjoying the bountiful varieties of tomatoes from our CSA.

With Matt’s talent for making homemade pasta combined with the fresh farm tomatoes, we’ve got the whole flavorful world in our hands.

We’ve been making this dish about once a week since the tomatoes began arriving. It captures the fresh feel of summer and you don’t have to peel the tomatoes like cooked fresh tomato sauce. This recipe is perfection with hand-made pasta but a fine-second with store bought. Last night, short on time, we used Trader Joe’s bow tie pasta and it was a nice compliment.

Raw Summer Tomato Sauce for Pasta
from Lidia’s Family Table by Lidia Matticchio

Makes 3 to 4 cups, enough to sauce 1 pound of dry pasta

• 2 pounds ripe summer tomatoes, preferably heirloom varieties in a mix of colors and shapes
• 3 to 4 plump garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 large basil leaves (about 3 tbs shredded)
• 1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes, or more or less to taste
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup or more grated Parmesan-reggiano or cubed fresh mozzarella (optional)

1.Rinse tomatoes and wipe dry. Over a large mixing bowl, cut tomatoes into 1 inch chunks (cherry tomatoes in half), removing the core and any hard parts. Drop them into bowl along with juices.
2.Smash the garlic cloves with a chef’s knife and chop into a fine paste. This is easier if you add some of the salt as you chop;mash the garlic bits with the flat side of the knife too. Scatter the garlic paste and rest of salt over the tomatoes and stir gently.
3.Pile the basil leaves and slice into thin strips. Strew these over the tomatoes, then the pepper flakes. Pour in the oil, stir, and fold, to coat the tomatoes and distribute the seasonings.
4.Cover the bow with plastic wrap and let it marinate at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Toss the marinated sauce with freshly cooked and drained pasta. Serve as it, or toss in 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiana.  For additional complexity, you could add 1 cup or more cubed fresh mozzarella.

Notes: This is not the recipe to skip the fresh basil and used dried as substitute. Raid your neighbor’s garden or shell out the 3 bucks at the grocery store. We don’t add the cheese (since I am eating dairy free at the moment) but the rest of the family enjoys parmesan sprinkled on top.We have skipped the hot pepper flakes. The is good warm with the fresh pasta but it’s also good cold from the fridge the next day.

So as an absolutely fabulous birthday present my wife and immediate family all chipped in to get me this Atlas pasta maker. We picked it up at the best place in Nashville for fine teas and cookware, Davis Cookware & Cutlery Shop. Then I had the privilege of going over to my new friends’ house to make pasta for the first time with a hands-on lesson. It turns out that while it’s a little bit of work, it’s not at all difficult to do.

So one night later, I tried it on my own for the very first time.

1. To start with I only needed about a cup of flour and one egg for each adult served.