Kale and Butternut Squash Casserole

Cooking Light is my favorite magazine. I have been reading it for years collecting all my favorite magazines. What I love about the recipes in Cooking Light magazine, is that they are all kid friendly. I have never made a recipe from one of their magazines that my kids did not devour.

I recently made this delicious - I mean extremely delicious recipe - however it was a lot of work to make. I always judge the complication of a recipe depending on how many pots, pans or cookie sheets it takes to make a recipe. This recipe was a #5 on my scale of complication, because it filled-up my sink with a ton of dishes. Although, it took a lot of kitchen tools - I can not wait to make it again! Here is the recipe (along with my personal changes that I made along the way.)

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash
• 4 Tbl. of olive oil
• 1 Package of piccolini mini ziti
• 1 large busshell of organic kale
• 1/2 package of bacon
• 1 large onion
• 7 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 Tbl. flour
• 1 cup of creme fraiche (see my recipe here - make the night before)
• 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese (shredded)

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Combine the chopped squash w/ oil and then bake on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes. While that is cooking boil your pasta - add the kale to the pasta for the last two minutes of boiling.
3. Cook bacon in a pan and then crumble. Remove bacon and then add onion. Cook onion for about 5 minutes before adding some salt and garlic. Cook for an additional minute.
4. Boil 1 3/4 cup broth in a saucepan. 
5. In a cup mix 1/4 cup of broth & flour in a bowl with a whisk. Add the flour mixture to the boiling broth & cook until it thickens. Then remove from heat and add the creme fraiche.
6. Combine everything into a 13x9 baking dish - top with Parmesan - bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes!

Enjoy!