Blue Frog Pasta

As you may remember, I spent 16 weeks in Shanghai, China in 2012. I had the good fortune to stay in a very nice hotel while there, but honestly, hotel living leaves much to be desired in comparison to home. That said, there are three things I miss about my life in Shanghai.

• The expansive and luxurious bathroom in my hotel room. The hotel site describes the bathroom as “A marble-clad bathroom with glass-enclosed bath and separate shower.” This does not begin to do justice to the glory that is the Kerry Hotel showers.
• Arriving back in my hotel room at night and having my laundry clean, beautifully folded in a wicker basket with lavender sachets tucked in among the unmentionables. Everything you’ve heard about chinese laundry is true. The quality is unparalleled. I’ve yet to have pants ironed so well anywhere else in the world.
• Roasted Pumpkin Pasta at the Blue Frog.

Blue Frog is a chain of restaurants in China that hosts a varied east-west menu, and more importantly, stays open past 10 pm. The entire city of Shanghai turns off the lights, quite literally, at 10. Restaurants and bars put the chairs ontop the tables and turn off the lights. This was an issue for our team because most nights we worked until at least 10, maybe later. 

The Blue Frog, though, not only stayed open late but more importantly: delivered. Jokes about chinese take-out aside, finding a restaurant that delivered and would take credit cards and had a menu varied enough to suit our team was a coup. And so, without further ado, here is my interpretation of Blue Frog Roasted Pumpkin Pasta, made with no pumpkin whatsoever.

Ingredients:

4 cups cubed, butternut squash

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cups cooked, drained whole wheat pasta (rotini or penne)

½ cup pine nuts

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp pesto

sea salt

ground black pepper

grated parmesan cheese to taste

Directions: 

• Heat oven to 375.
• Toss the butternut squash with the olive oil, sea salt and ground black pepper
• Spread on a cookie sheet and roast in heated oven for 45 – 60 minutes till done and slightly brown at edges.
• While squash is roasting, boil large pot of water and cook pasta as per directions on package.
• When finished, drain well and transfer to large mixing bowl.
• While pasta is warm, toss with lemon juice, pesto and pine nuts. Let stand.
• When squash is finished roasting, remove from oven and let cool slightly.
• Then, add to pasta and toss well.
• Serve immediately, garnishing with parmesan cheese to taste. 

Roasted Butternut Squash

Pasta tossed with Pesto, Lemon Juice and Pine Nuts

The finished pasta!