not alfredo sauce

Dinner tonight was spectacular. Since the hubby was not here to ooh and aah, I planned to take a picture so y'all could do it for him. Alas, even a fancy-pants camera has a battery that dies when left plugged into the computer for 30 hours at a time ;-p. I will still give you the recipe though, because you NEED to make this now while you can get just about all of the ingredients locally and for pennies! Trust me on this one, gang. It's worth the small effort.

Penne with Roasted Summer Squash sauce. Adapted from a recipe on Epicurious.

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped fine
  
• 1 onion, minced
  
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or substitute. I used half olive oil)
  
• 1/2 squash, roasted and pureed
  
• 1 cup veggie broth
• 2 tablespoons evaporated milk (or substitute)
  
• 1/2 pound penne or other tubular pasta
• salt, pepper, and a few other seasonings. The peppers I had on hand were left over from making omelets, so there was some fajita seasoning on them. I think it's similar to chicken seasoning?
  
• freshly grated Parmesan or finely chopped pine nuts and toasted wheat germ.

In a large skillet cook the onion, the bell pepper, and the garlic in the butter over moderate heat, stirring until the vegetables are softened. Stir in the squash, broth, milk, salt, and pepper to taste and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, cook the penne. You can reserve some of the pasta water if you want for the next step.

Add the penne to the sauce, and stir well. Add a bit of reserved pasta water if desired to thin the sauce. Divide the pasta between 2 plates and serve it with the Parmesan or pine nuts/wheat germ.