I’m a crankster today and tired and I don’t want to work out and I won’t even tell you how many cookies I’ve eaten today… So my soul’s in the mood for some lovin. Now usually this takes the form of some chocolatey-goodness, but seeing as I already ate my weight in chocolate for the week (see: cookies), I’ve got something else that’ll soothe my cranky spirit. Thankfully, I cooked yesterday so all it took was a little zappin’ and ah bliss. Comfort food at it’s finest. AND to top it off, it’s HEALTHY comfort food with lotsa veggies! And although I don’t want to share any of my soul food, my Mamma always told me sharing is caring. And that sharing will take away a cranky pants.
So without further ado, here’s the healthy comfort food casserole in 10 easy steps, adapted from Cooking Light
Butternut and sausage pasta
Ingredients:
-1 whole butternut squash, cut lengthwise
-1 TB olive oil
-Cooking spray
-12 oz (1 bag) uncooked pasta
-1 bag spinach (*the recipe called for 4 c. chopped kale, which I didn’t have)
-2 dinner sausage links (*the recipe called for 2 bacon slices, which I also didn’t have)
-2 c. chopped onion
-5 garlic cloves, minced
-2 c. FF, low sodium chicken broth
-2 TB flour
-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (*also didn’t have… I substituted 3 chopped serrano chili’s, we like it spicy!)
-1 c. creme fraiche (*never even HEARD of it, so I omitted it)
-1/3 c. cheese (I used low fat mozz)
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Cut squash length-wise. Put squash halves in microwave safe dish and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 8 min or until tender. Let sit for 5-10min. Then peel from shell and cut into 1/2″ chunks.
3. Boil water. Cook pasta 7 min or until almost al dente
4. Pull apart sausage into bite size pieces and saute in a large pan (with NO oil). When almost finished, drain and add spinach, onions and garlic. The remaining sausage oil should be enough to sautee the veggies, but if they start getting a little crispy, add the 1 TB olive oil
5. Bring 1-3/4 c broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Combine remaining 1/4c broth and flour in a small bowl, whisk together. Add flour mixture and red pepper flakes (or chilis) to broth. Cook 2 min or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat
6. Stir in creme fraiche to broth mixture (*This part was omitted in my version… but for a more moist casserole, you can use sour cream or milk or plain yogurt… any thicker, creamy liquid will work. I didn’t add anything, and although still delish, twas a smidge dry)
7. Combine squash, pasta, sausage/veggie mixture and sauce in a large bowl and toss gently (or just pour it all in a casserole dish and mix together with a spoon)
8. Sprinkle evenly with cheese
9. Bake at 400 for 25 min or until bubbly and slightly browned
10. Eat and be comforted, oh cranky soul.
PS although I didn’t want to work out, I couldn’t let the streak die because I was in a bad mood, so the streak lives on – 14 days!
) 
