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This simple Creamy Baked 4 Cheese Butternut Squash Rigatoni is the perfect dinner. Quick, easy, cheesy, and so delicious! Roasted butternut squash with shallots, garlic, and herbs in a creamy 4-cheese, sun-dried tomato, spinach sauce. Cooked together with rigatoni pasta, then finished in the oven for a simple, delicious fall dinner. Truly one of those pasta bake dinners that everyone at the table will love. Great for a weeknight, but equally fancy enough to serve up at your next dinner party too. You can’t go wrong with this Tuscan-style butternut squash pasta.
Sometimes I look back at older recipes and I wonder what I was thinking when I decided to make and share that recipe. And then sometimes I look back and think, wow I need to make this!
This is a pasta that I looked way, way, way back for. I was going through recipes for our HBH 10-year anniversary when I came across this recipe and thought, yummm!
I looked at the recipe and thought, wow I could make that so much more efficiently than it’s written. So that’s just what I did! I had all the ingredients with me at the time and decided to just go for it.
It turned out so delicious, I just had to re-share it!!
Here are details
First, you’ll want to roast up the squash. Start by tossing the squash, shallots, and garlic with lots of fresh oregano, chili flakes, salt, and pepper.
Once the squash has finished roasting, puree it with the garlic and ricotta cheese until smooth. You can do this in a food processor or blender.
Now the pasta, take a big oven-safe skillet with sides and add a few cups of water. Just enough to cook the pasta. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. Cook until the pasta is just al dente, but don’t drain it! Simply stir in the butternut puree, milk, lots of spinach, the sun-dried tomatoes. And finish with a mix of gouda and parmesan cheese.
Toss everything until it is creamy. Top with fontina cheese and bake until melty and the sauce is bubbling up.
I usually top with fresh herbs, then serve it up! DELICIOUS!
This is my ideal fall dinner, and I even got the picky eaters to dive right into this! It’s all that delicious cheese and creamy butternut squash in a Tuscan-style sauce. You just cannot turn away from that combo!
Looking for more comfort pasta recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
Pesto Tortellini Zuppa Toscana
Creamy Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Pasta
One Pot French Onion Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto
Basil Parmesan Pasta with Crispy Chicken, Prosciutto, and Arugula
Lastly, if you make this Baked 4 Cheese Butternut Squash Rigatoni be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Baked 4 Cheese Butternut Squash Rigatoni.
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 410 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups cubed butternut squash
- 1 shallot, halved
- 6-10 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
- chili flakes
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 pound rigatoni or other short cut pasta
- 1 cup milk or cream
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1/2 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded gouda cheese
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded fontina or provolone cheese
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 425° F.2. On a baking sheet, toss together the olive oil, butternut squash, shallot, garlic, oregano, and a pinch each of chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Bake 20-25 minutes, until the squash is tender.3. Pop the garlic cloves out of their skin. Add the butternut squash, shallot, garlic, and ricotta to a food processor. Puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.4. In a large, oven-safe skillet with sides, bring 3 1/2 cups water to a boil, add the pasta, and cook, stirring often, until the pasta is al dente, 8 minutes. Stir in the pureed butternut squash. Add the milk/ cream, Italian seasoning, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes, stirring to combine. Stir in the gouda and parmesan until melted. 5. Remove from the heat and top with the fontina cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and gooey. Eat!
Notes
Italian Seasoning: Mix 2 tablespoons dried basil, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, 2 teaspoons dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, and 1 teaspoon dried sage. Store in a sealed container.
This one was so good that it hurt, ow! I am always impressed when I make your recipes. I don’t know how you constantly have the best food ideas ever. I’m just so grateful that God blessed us with YOU!
Hey Courtney,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it and sharing your review:)
I made this last night & it was delicious! It was super easy to make. We are looking forward to the leftovers:) I think this will be a new vegetarian side for Thanksgiving dinner. I could make it the day before & pop it in the oven when the Turkey comes out.
Love your recipes!
Hi Mary,
Happy Wednesday! Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xTxT
Made this last night in my staub cast iron pumpkin for Halloween. It was very good and quite easy roasting all the squash, shallot and garlic at once. However, I did not realize I was not supposed to drain my pasta water. Should have read the notes a little better. I did save some of my water and put it back in but I imagine it would have been so much creamier with all of it. I’ve never done that. Anyway it was a hit. Will try again and do it the right way.
Thank you for everything. I really enjoy your recipes!
Hi Annette,
Happy Wednesday! Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xT
This looks amazing! What size large skillet did you use?
Thanks is much Jo!! I used a 12 inch skillet:) Let me know if you have any other questions! xT
I made this tonight for Halloween 🎃 since it had the butternut squash for something fall like. It is AMAZING!!!!! Way better than I anticipated! It’s so creamy and flavorful, so yummy! Added bonus it was easy to make!
Hey Nikki,
Love it!!🤩 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xx
Made this tonight with cream cheese instead of ricotta and topped with mozzarella because that’s what I had on hand. It turned out so yummy! Definitely tastes like fall!
Hey Pam,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xx
This might be a dumb question, but do you drain the cooking water from the rigatoni before adding the other items?
Hi Teresa,
No need to drain the water:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Turned out great!! I used a long casserole dish, put it in the oven to rest for an hour. Went out to the movies, came home 3 hours later and the rolls overtook the casserole dish. It was quite the sight to see how big they grew. I baked them for 30 mins as instructed and they came out perfect!!!
Oops… the was supposed to post under the chai cinnamon rolls
no worries:)
Yummy pasta but a few critiques of the recipe – for several HBH one pot pastas I’ve made there’s not nearly enough water to cook the pasta so some of them end up hard. My sauce for this recipe also wouldn’t blend in a food processor or blender (I think because it didn’t have liquid added). And I don’t know anyone who could make this in an hour and 10 mins. Maybe if you had all your ingredients prepped and measured beforehand, but it took me much longer.
Hi Kate,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! xx
Hey Wendy,
Happy Monday! 👻 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! Happy Halloween! 🎃
Perfect fall dinner! Easy, different and tasty. Added plant-based Italian Sausage. Will definitely make again. Thanks Tieghan!
Hey Kathy,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for trying it out! Have a great weekend! 👻
This recipe is incredible! I never knew I could love butternut squash as much as I did in this sauce. The flavors come together in a rich, warm, and explosive way, and everyone from my 9-year-old to my 19-year-old loved it. Funny enough, none of the kids realized it was a squash-based sauce, which made me smile that I snuck some veggies in that way. This will be a common dish in our house.
Hey Heather,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for trying it out! Have a great weekend! 👻
Delicious and decadent! I really enjoyed the flavors in this recipe. I am curious to experiment with the roasted squash and ricotta mixture, perhaps trying it on some toasted bread as an app or on top of roasted cauliflower or spaghetti squash for a lighter meal option. Thank you for including your Italian seasoning mix suggestion, too. I often don’t have a mix on hand but have all the ingredients!
Hey Jane,
Happy Friday!🎃 I am delighted to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for trying it out and sharing your review! xx
Made this today but added Italian sausage. It is absolutely delicious!!
Hey Deborah,
Fantastic!! 🍁🍂 I am delighted to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it and sharing your review! xT
Oh my goodness! I made the full dairy version, but saved some aside for a non dairy option. Both were absolutely stunningly brilliant, but of course the hands down favorite of my husband was the four cheese original. I served it with a roasted chicken using all the same spices and the most delicious olive oil. (Pretty sure you know the very one!) Thank you for another hit!
Hi Patty,
Perfect!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it and sharing what worked well for you!! xx
Made it tonight and it was great!
Hi Kristie,
Awesome!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xT
The recipe doesn’t mention when to add the ricotta
It looks like you add in the ricotta into the food processor direction #3.
Thanks Natasha!
Hi Mel,
Sorry if you missed it, but the ricotta is added in step 3:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Can this recipe be prepped to a certain point and finished later or the next day? If yes, what is that certain point? 🙂 Thank you!! Diane
Hey Diane,
Sure, just make up until the baking point and then cover and pop in the fridge until you are ready to bake. I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, let me know if you give it a try! xx