Baked Shells With Winter Squash

Butter, for baking dish

4 Tbs olive oil

2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced

Coarse salt and ground pepper

2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 pound small pasta shells

1 pkg (12 oz) frozen winter squash puree, thawed

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 slices crusty baguette, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)

1) Preheat oven to 400F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish. Heat 3 Tbs oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions; season with salt and pepper. Cover; cook until onions are soft and release liquid, 15 minutes. Uncover; raise heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until onions are browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in 1 tsp rosemary.  

2) Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes less than package instructions suggest. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups cooking water. Return pasta to pot. 

3) Stir squash and reserved pasta water into onions; simmer 2 minutes. Toss squash mixture and 1/2 cup Parmesan with pasta. Transfer to prepared dish.

4) Combine bread cubes with remaining Parmesan, rosemary, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Top pasta with bread cubes; bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

Review:  I significantly tweaked this recipe.  I can't find squash puree at my local grocery stores!  So, I bought the prediced stuff at Costco and made the puree myself.  One package resulted in enough for this recipe, and an equal amount to be frozen for future use.  Yay me.  I skipped the step of browning onions, as I didn't like the idea of it.  So, instead I cooked the pasta, then drained it.  In the pot, I returned the pasta and tossed in the pasta water, puree, the Parmesan, 1 Tbs of dried onions and 1Tbs of dried shallots.  I cooked until bubbling and then tossed it into the baking dish.  I also substituted the bread cubes with 3/4 cup of bread crumbs.  So, this is basically a dressed-up mac-n-cheese.  However, it was really yummy and was filling on a snowy evening.