That Green Olive: Butternut and miso pasta with bacon

Butternut and miso pasta with bacon. Photo / Olivia Moore - That Green Olive

When photographing this dish, I stood for a couple of minutes twirling the fork through these creamy noodles.

The sound of squidgy sauce-coated pasta swirling around was pretty mesmerising. ASMR material. If that’s not inviting enough - let alone its beautiful bright orange colour - this pasta is so quick and simple to make.

It’s a matter of cooking the sauce ingredients together and blending, then tossing through cooked pasta and sprinkling with bacon. So easy.

The sauce features miso, which gives it a beautiful, salty umami flavour.

To make this vegetarian, use vegetable stock instead of beef, and use chopped roasted almonds instead of bacon.

Visit Olivia’s website for more recipes: www.thatgreenolive.com.

Butternut and miso pasta with bacon

Serves three to four

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• ½ butternut squash (400 grams), peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 ½ cups beef stock
• 1 Tbsp miso paste
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 200g linguine
• 100g diced bacon
• Handful of finely grated parmesan, to serve
• Handful of fresh rocket, torn, to serve

Method

1. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook for five minutes until it begins to brown.
2. Add squash and coriander seeds, and stir to combine. Cook for seven to 10 minutes until squash is beginning to brown.
3. Add beef stock and miso, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes, until squash is tender. Blend until smooth, and allow to simmer for a few more minutes until your desired thickness is reached.
4. Meanwhile, cook linguine according to packet directions. Drain.
5. Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring often, for three to five minutes until nicely browned. Remove from heat.
6. Add linguine to the squash sauce and toss to fully coat. Divide among bowls and top with the bacon, followed by a sprinkle of parmesan and rocket. Serve immediately.

Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography - in studio or on-location - for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation.