RECIPE: Roasted Squash, Chickpea, Feta and Pesto Pasta

I've really taken to serving pasta with some sort of roasted vegetable instead of a classic pasta and sauce combination lately. The soft, creamy vegetables, often with some nice crunchy edges, along with the infused olive oil used in the roasting coats the pasta perfectly. Squash with fennel seeds and chilli is a match made in heaven in my opinion and spiked with salty feta and aromatic pesto, is an Autumnal mid-week treat.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1/2 Butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1/2 Small onion, sliced

olive oil

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

400g tin Chickpeas, drained

320g Cavatappi shaped pasta (or similar; fusilli, spirali even shell type shapes) 

150g Feta cheese

5tbs Basil pesto 

Method 
Heat the oven to 200ºC

In a large roasting tray place the squash, onion, fennel seeds and chilli flakes. Drizzle generously with olive oil, season and mix well.

Roast for 25 minutes in the oven, tuning occasionally.

In a large pan of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

Add the drained chickpeas to roasting tray and continue to cook in oven for another 10 minutes whilst the pasta cooks.

Drain the pasta and remove the roasting tray from the oven. Add the pasta to the squash with a little more olive oil and mix well. Crumble over the feta cheese and dot with the pesto.