Creamy Coconut Butternut Pasta

For the love of all things in my dairy-free world, this sauce is a game changer!!! My oldest was at work while I was making and ate later when she got home from work, she was in love and had NO idea there was no cheese or dairy cream. This from my picky teenager. Such a winner. This sauce will be part of some future recipes but for now. Enjoy 

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 1 Butternut squash
• 3 cups chicken broth or stock, divided
• 1 cup coconut milk, full fat
• 2 tbsp cassava flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves
• Salt and pepper

Pasta:

• 1 package, GF, Whole Grain Pasta, Penne
• 1 pound Shrimp, deveined uncooked
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 hand full of baby spinach

Putting together:

In a 2 quart pot add the peeled and chopped butternut squash and enough broth to just cover the squash, then boil. The time will vary a bit but it will be around 20ish minutes, till the squash is ultra soft. Once cooked add to blender, 1 tbsp butter, and coconut milk. Start with 1.2 tsp salt and pepper. Let this cool a bit before you blend or it will explode. 

In a small saucepan, heat on medium add butter and cook seasoned shrimp. This will take only a few minutes. Squeeze lemon over the shrimp just at the end of cooking. Reserve shrimp till sauce is ready to put together. 

Boil pasta based on instructions. If using rice pasta be sure to rice after cooking. 

Time to make the sauce. In a large sautee pan add 2 tbsp butter, melt. Add onions and garlic and cook on med-low till onions clear and soft. Sprinkle the cassava flour over mixture and whisk. Cook for a minute then slowly add broth, whisking, cooking until thickened. Then add the blended squash and heat to a simmer. To make the sauce smooth add back to the blender, puree and add back to the pan. If you like it with pieces of onion just leave as is! Put in the spinach, cook it down until wilted.  Lastly, you will add the shrimp to reheat. 

Once pasta is done it is time to put it all together. If I am feeding everyone at once I toss this all together in a large serving bowl. Serve with a salad or crusty bread!

Note: You can make the sauce and use any way you wish! It is wonderful as is, with zucchini noodles or even with chicken! Play with it!