I think I’m in love, but Husband need not worry, it’s not with another man just another man’s cookbook: Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  When Foodie Heather raved about this cookbook, I took interest.  I'm very excited with what I found, but the best part was how helpful it is with transforming leftovers.

Case in point: this month’s Leftover Tuesdays creation using leftover butternut squash and pesto.  The squash was a leftover from the fall garden that, sadly, was not holding up too well and needed to be eaten.  I also had some leftover basil pesto sitting in my freezer and had decided I wanted to make some type of pasta dish.  After a brief search in Bittman's book, I found a table listing 39 ways to transform pasta, one of which used butternut squash.  Bingo.  The result? Penne Pasta with Butternut Squash and Pesto based on a Bittman variation called Butternut Squash with Pesto.  While this could be a side-dish, I took Bittman at his word and mixed it with pasta to create a nice little dinner for two.  In my creation, I sautéed about 10 oz of cubed butternut squash with some garlic (also leftover from last year's garden and quickly fading) for a couple minutes, braised it in about ¼ cup of chicken stock that I had in the fridge (ok so it’s not strictly vegetarian) until the squash was tender, and then mixed in a baggie full of frozen pesto (probably ½ cup or so) with the pasta.  Quick, easy and really delicious.  This is definitely on the make again list.

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