I make this dish each year for my friends when we gather for the holidays. A tradition everyone loves.

• 1 Butternut Squash
• 1 box of Jumbo Shells
• 2  cups of Ricotta Cheese
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 brick of fresh Parmesan Cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp butter or olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of fresh or dried sage (*2)
• 1 tablespoon of dried oregano (*2)
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely grated)
• 1 teaspoon of Salt and Pepper ( *2)
• ½ cup of bread crumbs

• Squash:
  • Start by cooking your squash. (Might want to do this a couple of hours or even a day in advance of the rest of your prep). You will first need to preheat the oven to 425 degrees. I like to cut the butternut squash in half and poke a few holes in the skin side with a fork. Place it in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes faced down.
  • After 30 minutes take the squash halves out to add either melted butter or olive oil to each flesh side of the squash and continue cooking for another 20-30 minutes. Check periodically with a fork and remove from oven once the squash is soft all the way through. Let the squash cool.
• Noodles:
  • Before you start making the mixture, add your whole box of shells to a boiling pot and cook to al-dente. IMPORTANT: Don’t cook too long or your shells might fall apart on you when you are trying to fill them later.
  • Before draining, ladle 1 c pasta water into a bowl, reserve.
  • Drain the pasta and then drizzle with oil a bit so the noodles don’t get too sticky.
• Filling:
  • Scoop out 3/4th’s of the squash filling into a large bowl and set off to the side. Scoop out 1/4th of the squash filling and add to a smaller bowl.
  • In the big bowl, add all of your ricotta cheese and shred a cup of parmesan cheese to add as well. Add the egg and first set of seasonings: salt, pepper, sage and oregano and mix well. (Season more or less as you desire.) Your mixture should be thicker.
• Sauce:
  • Once the big bowl is mixed up set that off to the side and turn attention to smaller bowl. In the smaller bowl add a 1/4th cup of your pasta water and 1/4th cup of heavy cream. Add second set of seasonings (1 tsp of salt and pepper and 1 tblsp. of oregano and sage) to create more of a sauce style mixture. Shred your garlic cloves and add to the sauce. If the sauce is very thick, thin it by adding a bit more pasta water.
• Assemble:
  • Using a spoon, add about one large spoonful of the mixture to each shell. I like to load them up, but you can decide how full you want each shell. Once they are all in the pan, pour your sauce style mixture over the top of the shells. Add about a half-cup of your grated parmesan cheese and your ½ cup of bread crumbs to the top. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the over to cook for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the foil and cook 10-15 more minutes to create a crunchier bread crumb top.
  •  I like to drizzle a tiny bit of honey over the top of the pan. It’s an extra beautiful dish when you add some more fresh sage to the top. Voila. Enjoy!