Penne with Garlicky Butternut Squash

What do I love as much as pasta? Garlic. What do I love more than pasta with a whole lot of garlic? Nothing comes to mind. So this weekend, while I was reading through recipes trying to figure out what to do with my butternut squash besides soup I ran across this recipe for penne with garlicky butternut squash. I saw the recipe I knew immediately I had to try it. Not only was it super delicious but it was simple and I already had all of the ingredients in my pantry.

Penne with Garlicky Butternut Squash:

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 (1 1/2 pound) butternut squash, diced
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 - 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon powdered sage
• Salt, to taste
  
• Black pepper, to taste
• 1 pound of penne (I prefer whole wheat)
  
• Nutritional yeast
• *2-3 tablespoons of vegan margarine
• *2-3 teaspoons of garlic powder, divided
  

Bring a large pot full of water to a boil. Drop the penne and cook until your preferred tenderness. Once the pasta is done cooking, drain, reserve some of the pasta water, and return the pasta to the pot. *Toss the pasta with the margarine, half of the garlic powder, and nutritional yeast. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Toss in the squash and saute for five minutes, until it begins to get golden. Sprinkle in the garlic and saute 2 minutes. Pour in 1/2 of the veggie broth, and cover the pan. Periodically check the pan for the tenderness of the squash. If all the liquid is gone but the squash isn't tender, add more broth and some of the pasta water. Cook the squash until tender, mix in the garlic powder, sage, and nutmeg. Pour the squash mixture into the pasta pot and toss, adding the salt and pepper. Sprinkle on some more nutritional yeast. Serve with some crusty whole grain baguette.

Some tips about this recipe:

• I went a little easy on the garlic because my boyfriend doesn't love garlic as much as I do. But even he said it needed more! So the 4 cloves is just to start, I probably added about 6 and plan to add more next time. But I really, really love garlic.
• Don't worry about adding "too much" broth or pasta water because it will make a good sauce.
• This makes a whole lot of pasta, but make the whole recipe. It's great leftover.
  
• The * indicates where I updated the recipe.