fun with baby food

So far Sara is loving her food - she leans to the spoon and squeals in between bites for more - and I really enjoy making her produce. There's something very rewarding about selecting local produce from a farm, preparing it and watching her happy face as she takes her first bites. She loves the rice and oatmeal cereals now, and sweet potatoes are a big hit.

Now we're trying butternut squash. I bought a BIG squash at the Markham Fair, and after cutting it (which is an art, and at some points I wished I had a saw) I quickly realized that it would make about 30 servings of baby food.... so, since I was making a casserole for dinner anyway, I came up with this recipe that would feed us and our babe. I was quite impressed with my domestic ingenuity :)

Roasted Vegetable Pasta and Butternut Squash Puree

1 large butternut squash
1 large red pepper
1 large yellow pepper
20-25 large cremini mushrooms
2 cups dried pasta (any medium pasta will do, I used macaroni)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pkg Goat cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Peel and chop up the butternut squash. Reserve about 1/3 for the casserole, and start steaming the rest (takes 15-20 minutes in the steamer).

3. Cook pasta, until just al dente. It will soften further during baking.

4. Chop the other veggies into chunks, and place in bowl with reserved squash. Drizzle with olive oil and toss with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Spread veggies on a baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes, until slightly golden. Stir once or twice during roasting.

5. When the squash is cooked, reserve the steamer water in a measuring cup and place squash in food processor. Puree until smooth, adding cooking water as needed.

6. Fill baby food containers with puree, and let cool. I filled 8 2tbsp containers for freezing, plus one serving in a dish. Let cool before freezing.

7. Place pasta and vegetables in a large baking dish. Pour the remaining squash puree over top and stir.

8. I put the casserole in the fridge at this point, to bake just before supper at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, covered with foil. Remove foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes to brown the top. Otherwise, bake immediately for about 20 minutes at the same temperature.

9. Serve with goat cheese on top (I like a lot of goat cheese)... Yum!