Today I am sharing a family favourite as my final recipe for the Abel & Cole X Balance Blogger Challenge. This pasta sauce always goes down well with my children, and for me it's a real comfort food dish that is so perfect for this time of year. The sauce is quick and easy to whip up, but you do need some butternut squash puree. To make the puree just peel, deseed and cut up a butternut squash into chunks and roast with a drizzle of olive oil and some seasoning in the oven until soft. Cool and then puree with a hand blender. Any leftover butternut squash puree can be frozen. The puree can be made ahead a stored in the fridge, or even portioned out and frozen.

Thank you to  Abel & Cole and Balance for inviting me to part in this initiative. I always welcome the opportunity to work with the wonderful seasonal fruit and vegetables we have, showcasing how they can, with a little bit of consideration, take centre stage on the plate. 

Butternut Squash + Sun-dried Tomato Spaghetti

For the pasta sauce:
150g sun-dried tomatoes (in oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
300g butternut squash puree
2 tbsp tomato puree
250ml vegetable stock
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
pinch of cinnamon
125ml crème fraiche

To serve:
Spaghetti
Parmesan

Place a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and add the sun-dried tomatoes along with a couple of tablespoons of their oil. Add the onion, garlic and rosemary and cook until soft.

Add the butternut squash puree, tomato puree, stock, dried herbs and cinnamon. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, topping up with a little water if the sauce starts to become a little too thick.

Remove from the heat, and using a hand blender, puree the sauce until it is mostly smooth. Stir in the crème fraiche and season to taste.

To serve, cook your spaghetti in a large saucepan according to the packet instructions, reserving a small cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and put in back in the pan it was cooked in and stir through a few generous tablespoons of the warm sauce, loosening with a splash of the pasta cooking water.

Serve in bowls with a generous grating of parmesan and some crispy stir-fried kale on the side.