Miso-Butter Pasta With Butternut Squash

A true love match, miso and butter create a simple yet deeply flavorful pasta that hits all the right notes: sweet, salty and savory. Smashed garlic cloves roast with the squash to gently flavor it, then become silky-soft treasures you’ll discover while eating. Finishing the dish with lime cuts through the richness of the butter, but you can use lemon, too. Try using other vegetables like eggplant, pumpkin or carrots to make this dish your own.

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Ingredients

• 2

  tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 2

  teaspoons white miso

• 3 to 5

  large garlic cloves, smashed

• 2 ½

  pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (see Tip)

• 1

  tablespoon olive oil, plus more as needed

• Kosher salt and black pepper

• 1

  pound mezze rigatoni or other short pasta

• ½

  cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

• 1

  lime, zested and juiced (2 teaspoons zest, 2 tablespoons juice)

• ¼

  teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. On a sheet pan, mash together the butter and miso. Add the garlic and squash, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and toss to coat with the miso-butter mixture. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt and season with pepper. Cook until easily pierced with a fork and the raw taste is gone, 25 to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, adjusting the heat to maintain a gentle boil, and cook until just shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain the noodles. If done before the squash, drizzle with olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Leave in the sink to drain.
3. When the squash is done, return the pasta to the pot over low heat. Scrape in squash, garlic and any liquid that accumulated, then add the Parmesan and ½ cup pasta water, stirring well until the noodles have a light sheen to them. If it appears dry, add more pasta water a tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Stir in the lime zest and juice, season to taste with salt, and top with pepper and red-pepper flakes, if using. Serve with extra cheese.