Good morning! Today we have for you:
A hearty (but not heavy) pasta for all those squashesIs it me, or is decorative gourd season getting even more decorative? I used to see maybe a handful of resplendent squashes at the greenmarket. But lately the offerings have expanded, and I’ve noticed a dozen or more different varieties: the bumpy, curvy pumpkins and kin lined up in an array of festive hues — creamy white, deep green, bird’s egg blue mixed in with the usual oranges, yellows and tans. I’ve found a few new ones to use in the kitchen as well, roasting up red kuri squashes with my kabochas, and honey nuts with the butternuts. Yossy Arefi has an excellent destination for your squash in her butternut squash pasta with bacon and Parmesan. Yossy roasts the bacon and vegetables on a sheet pan to effortlessly caramelize everything before tossing it into the pot with the pasta and cheese. A splash of pasta water acts as a binder and reduces into a silky, savory sauce. It’s a delightful way to embrace autumn and its squashes. Featured Recipe Butternut Squash Pasta With Bacon and ParmesanMore food for thoughtPumpkin soup: If you’re into the comforting flavors of winter squash but not the knife work involved in cutting one up, Lidey Heuck’s fragrant soup is the answer. She calls for canned pumpkin, simmering it with maple syrup and apple cider for sweetness and rosemary and curry powder for spice. It’s lush, silky and elegant, just the thing for a cozy night in, with or without guests. Roasted pumpkin seeds: Want to know a secret about roasted pumpkin seeds? You can give the same treatment to any variety of edible winter squash seeds. Pumpkin and kabocha seeds tend to have thicker, crunchier shells, but those scooped from delicata, butternut, acorn and other squashes are also eminently roast-able. And you can use any of them to make Ali Slagle’s easy recipe. Crispy tofu tacos: I’ve made Alexa Weibel’s deeply spiced, crisp-edged tofu from this recipe and it’s a masterpiece — perfect for a taco filling, yes, but also terrific spooned over rice or sprinkled onto salads. The key is to really let the grated tofu bits roast until the sizzle is audible. That’s when you know the crunch will be, too. Chile cheese toasts: Toasted cheese sandwiches get a fiery makeover in Zainab Shah’s take on this South Asian classic, thanks to the sliced Thai chiles sprinkled over the Cheddar-mozzarella mix. But feel free to use milder chiles, like jalapeños or serranos, if you prefer less of a kick. Chile cheese toast is meant to be crowd-pleasing and endlessly riffable. Salted butterscotch chocolate chunk cookies: Now let’s turn the spotlight onto our own Vaughn Vreeland, who has been very busy with a host of sweet endeavors over the past few months. Not only has he begun penning Bake Time, a sugar-fueled newsletter and video series, but he’s also edited a cookie-filled cookbook that came out Tuesday:
Naturally you’ll want to get your hands on a copy, but until then you can enjoy Vaughn’s new recipe, which is sure to join the chocolate chip cookie hall of fame. Filled with crunchy bits of toffee (homemade or store-bought) plus bittersweet chocolate and browned butter, it’s a sophisticated makeover of everyone’s favorite cookie. That’s all for now. If you have any technical questions, you can send an email to the brilliant minds at cookingcare@nytimes.com. And I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com if you want to say hi. I’ll see you on Monday. For a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started.
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