Mafalda and Roasted Butternut in Warm Yogurt Sauce

From Ottolenghi’s Flavor cookbook, this dish came out awesome. I especially liked the crunchy fried garlic topping

Ingredients

Quick Chile Sauce

• 1 plum tomato, roughly chopped (½ cup/100g)
• 3 red chiles, seeded and roughly chopped (¼ cup/45g)
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 4½ tsp cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Main Dish

• 1 butternut squash (2 lb 2 oz/1kg), peeled, seeded, and cut into roughly 1-inch/2½cm cubes (8 cups/850g)
• 1 onion, peeled and cut into 6 wedges
• 6 tbsp/90ml olive oil
• table salt and black pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 7 oz/200g short mafalda pasta (or other dried pasta, cooking time adjusted if necessary)
• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp/500g Greek-style yogurt, at room temperature
• 1¼ tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp aquafaba
• 1½ tsp cornstarch
• ¼ cup/5g parsley leaves, roughly chopped, plus more to serve

Instructions

1. For the chile sauce: Put the tomato, chiles, and salt into the bowl of a small food processor and blitz until finely minced, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the vinegar and olive oil and pulse for a few seconds more. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 475°F/230°C fan. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and line a plate with a double layer of paper towel.

3. Put the squash, onion, 3 tbsp of the olive oil, ¾ tsp salt, and a good grind of pepper into a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until softened and charred. Keep warm until ready to use.

4. Meanwhile, put the garlic and 2 tbsp olive oil into a small frying pan and place on medium heat. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the garlic becomes deeply golden and crispy, about 12 minutes. Reserving the oil, use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic to the prepared plate.

5. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until almost al dente, about 7 minutes. Reserving ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp/200ml of cooking liquid, drain the pasta well.

6. Put the yogurt, remaining 1 tbsp olive oil, cumin, egg yolks, cornstarch, and ¼ tsp salt into a blender and blitz until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour the mixture into a large sauté pan on medium heat. Cook, stirring continuously, until thickened and just beginning to bubble, about 15 minutes. Add the pasta, reserved pasta water, chopped parsley, and half the squash mixture and cook for another 4 minutes, or until just heated through. Transfer to a large serving platter and top with the remaining squash mixture. Drizzle with one-third of the chile sauce and top with the fried garlic, parsley, and reserved garlic oil. Serve with the remaining chile sauce alongside.