Butternut Squash Pasta with Parmesan, Bacon & Kale 

There are so many things to love about this delightful dish of pitch-perfect pasta. The combination of buttery-sweet butternut squash with earthy kale, umami-packed parmesan cheese and a hefty hit of extra crisp-and-salty bacon hits all the right notes — particularly when the temperature starts to drop outside and the word crisp becomes a feeling in the air, not just a texture on the tip of the tongue.

Here’s why I love the pasta: All pasta has a low glycemic index — between 32-37 —about half that of white bread. The lower the number on the glycemic index, the longer it takes to digest, and the less it affects your blood sugar. Low is good when it comes to grains. And whole grain pasta has even lower numbers. Translation: You’ll stay fuller longer and have steady fuel to support energy levels. In just one serving of whole-grain pasta, you can meet your daily whole grain needs (plus a few extra) at the cost of about $0.25 a serving. Add in supporting ingredients like veggies, dark leafy greens and cheese, and you’ve got yourself a winning weeknight dinner.

Here’s why I love the butternut squash: This colorful, flavor-filled winter squash checks every box — hearty, creamy, buttery, bright — and works beautifully in both sweet and savory dishes. It’s low in calories, high in fiber and lower-in-carbohydrates than many other starchy vegetables. Bonus: It’s packed with nutrients like beta-carotene, potassium, vitamin C and folate.

Half the squash in this recipe gets roasted until just tender, while the other half continues to cook until it starts to break down and delicately coat the warm penne like a hearty, healthy sauce that’s only made creamier with a splash of starchy pasta water and a hit of rich parmesan cheese.

Here’s why I love the kale: Kale is loaded with goodies. The green contains nutrients that are good for our eyes (lutein and zeaxanthin), good for our hearts (potassium), good for our bones (calcium and vitamins D and K), protective against cancer (a bounty of antioxidants) and even helps with blood sugar control by being high in fiber. But several of these nutrients — like vitamins A, D, and K — need fat in order to break down and be made available to our bodies. That’s where a small-but-mighty amount of bacon comes into play.

And here’s what I love about bacon:

Let’s face it — what’s not to love about bacon? It not only adds smokiness and crisp texture to the earthy kale, but it also helps unlock all those fat-soluble nutrients and vitamins. And if a little bacon is what it takes to get more people eating things like kale and other delightful dark-leafy greens, then I’m all for it. In a small way, that bacon actually makes your kale a little healthier.

Butternut Squash Pasta with Parmesan, Bacon & Kale

• 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into ¾-inch cubes (about 5 cups)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• ½ teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 3 slices thick, center-cut bacon
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 large bunch kale, coarse stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 8 ounces whole wheat penne pasta
• 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (about 1.5 ounces), divided
• ⅓ cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 400. Place butternut squash on a large baking sheet.  Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over squash; sprinkle with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Toss to coat, arrange in a single layer over baking sheet.

Bake 30 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove half of squash, keep warm. Return remaining half of squash to oven; bake an additional 15 minutes.

While squash bakes, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan; set aside. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and onion to drippings in pan; cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until garlic starts to brown. Add kale, wine, and ½ tsp salt to pan; cook 5 to 6 minutes or until kale wilts.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain the pasta and return to pot.

Add ½ cup cheese, ½ cup pasta water, and the half of the squash that cooked longer to pasta; stirring gently to break down the squash until it begins to coat the pasta; add more pasta water as necessary to coat the pasta.

Chop bacon. Add bacon, kale mixture, and remaining squash to pasta mixture, tossing to combine.  Sprinkle with remaining pepper, parmesan cheese, and toasted pecans.  Serve immediately.

Sidney Fry is a two-time James-Beard-Award-winning food and nutrition writer who loves creating simple, healthy recipes and thoughtful, actionable content for the hungry consumer. A healthy living proactivist, Sidney is also a registered dietitian nutritionist, recipe developer and mama of three based in Birmingham, Alabama.