Julia Sherman's Recipe for Jammy Squash and Tomato Pasta

As part of our ongoing collaboration with Julia Sherman, we’re sharing a series of recipes exclusively for Marie Veronique. Our last recipe was a versatile green sauce, as encouragement for boosting your daily greens. Our next recipe offers further inspiration, Jammy Squash & Tomato Pasta, a main dish that offers more vegetables, with a twist. 

Healthy skin is the result of healthy habits. When it comes to dietary choices, we all want to eat foods we enjoy, that simultaneously help us look + feel our best.  This recipe strategically incorporates a shot of vinegar as your aperitif to benefit your skin and compliment the richness this dish offers. Vinegar (acetic acid) before a starchy meal is proven to be one way to improve blood sugar levels and it's also delicious. It’s well-documented that glucose spikes accelerate skin aging via the process of glycation – the faster glycation occurs in the body, the faster your skin will age - and one way to slow this process is by supporting glucose levels. Luckily, a few simple dietary modifications + thoughtful food choices can easily transform your meals into healthier habits. 

As we gathered with friends last month to salute our latest innovation, Body Barrier Emulsion, this flavorful pasta avec vinegar helped us celebrate the occasion. Santé!

Jammy Squash and Tomato Pasta

Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

This stupid-simple sauce relies on an extended cook time to transform squash into a sweet, jammy delight. Serve on its own as a vegetable side, or toss with pasta as a main. Make this in large batches in the early Fall with the last of the tomatoes and squash, and freeze for the darkest days of Winter. 

Kristina recommends taking down a shot of living vinegar with pasta to slow the breakdown of simple carbs, preventing spikes in blood sugar after a big meal. Just make sure it is raw, unpasteurized vinegar -- that’s the good stuff.

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) high-quality extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pasta
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 pounds (about 4) medium/large heirloom summer squash zucchini, cut into 1-2” thick chunks1 cup basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt, plus more for pasta water 
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, plus more for serving
• 2.5 pounds ripe heirloom tomatoes (about 4-5)
• 1 pound (450 g) Rigatoni
• 1 1/2 cups (20 g) Genovese basil, roughly torn
• Parmesan cheese, to serve

Set a large Dutch oven over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add olive oil and the garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant but not brown. Add the squash, salt, and pepper flakes, and cook for 12 minutes, until you start to see some color on the skin of the squash. Stir regularly to prevent garlic browning on the bottom of the pan. 

While the squash cooks, prepare the tomato. Slice and remove the butt end of each one, and grate the flesh into a mixing bowl against the large holes of a box grater. Discard the skin when you get to the end. Add to the squash and cook for one minute on high, then reduce to medium-low, cover and cook for fifteen minutes. Remove the cover and cook at an active simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, or until the tomato juices have cooked down and thickened and the squash is soft and jammy. Stir every 15 minutes or so, scraping any caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan, stirring more frequently towards the end as the sauce reduces. Add one cup of the basil and stir to combine, cover and remove from the heat. 

Fill a large pot with heavily salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package instructions, and just before draining, set aside about a cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta, transfer to a serving bowl and toss with a glug of olive oil. If the sauce feels too thick, add ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water to the sauce and stir to thin, adding more if needed. 

Garnish with the remaining ½ cup of fresh basil, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and an optional grating of parmesan cheese.