Chicken with Butternut Squash Sauce

I love using leftover chicken for a whole new meal the next evening. Because I baked the chicken the night before (Baked Chicken in a Hurry), I was able to cut it up and use it in this pasta dish.

I bought the rigatoni and the jarred sweet peppers at the Dollar Tree. Yep, I love the dollar store. I looked carefully at the brand ( For example, the pasta was made in Italy) and of course scan the expiration date carefully. Between using leftover chicken and dollar store items, this was a very inexpensive meal.

This dish is low in fat, very healthy covering all of your major food groups, and feel free use any pasta of choice including whole wheat pasta. This pasta dish would be great as a pre-race dinner.

• 1 large butternut squash, sliced in half and seeds removed
• 1 large head of broccoli or two smaller heads, stalks removed
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small jar of roasted red peppers, sliced
• 2-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size chunks.
• 1 lb of rigatoni
• 2 cups of pasta water
• 1/2 cup of half and half
• a pinch of ground sage
• salt and pepper to taste
• parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice butternut squash in half with a large knife. Please be careful. Remove seeds, salt, and place down on a cookie sheet coated with extra virgin olive oil. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Make sure the squash is nice and mushy. You should be able to remove it easily from the skin.

While butternut squash is roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil. First add pasta for about 4 minutes, and then add broccoli.

Meanwhile, in a large stock pot, saute onion and garlic in extra virgin olive oil on medium to high heat. After about 5 minutes, add the butternut squash, sage, and chicken. Mix thoroughly and bring back down to a simmer.

Add broccoli, pasta, red peppers, and half and half. Make sure the broccoli is not overcooked and the pasta is al dente.  Gradually add pasta water into the pot to thin out the pasta sauce. 

Simmer for 5 minutes and let sit covered for 5 more minutes. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.