Cheap Budget Meal - Roasted Butternut Squash Spaghetti

This weeks Cheap Budget Meal is a vegetarian recipe.

I like to incorporate as many vegetables into our meals as possible. They are a great way to bulk out meals which are based on expensive meat. I am also trying to cook at least one meat free meal a week. So this week I am sharing one of those recipes with you.

This recipe is based around butternut squash. Butternut squash is a versatile vegetable that has a lovely sweet, nutty flavour. I always find that 1 butternut squash goes a long way. In this recipe I have roasted the butternut squash.

This meal is full of goodness from the vegetables and low in price. The sweetness that the butternut squash brings to the meal will be loved by all, especially the children.

It is such an easy meal to make and once the squash has been cooked it is a quick meal to prepare. I even had a little helper when I cooked it. Normally Joseph moans that he doesn't like butternut squash and doesn't eat it. When we made this meal together he loved it. I find that if he has helped me cook or bake anything he is much more eager to try new foods.

Here is this weeks cheap budget meal recipe...

Roasted Butternut Squash Spaghetti

Ingredients

1 butternut squash (99p)
1 red pepper, chopped (60p)
1 red onion, sliced (17p)
190g jar red pesto (£1.30)
250g spaghetti (20p per 500g pack)
Oregano
Olive oil

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C

1 - Halve the butternut squash, drizzle olive oil over and sprinkle with oregano

2 - Place in the pre heated oven and roast for about 1 and a half hours or until the inside is soft

3 - Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 20 minutes

4 - Cook the spaghetti as per instructions on the packet

5 - Fry the onions and peppers in a little olive oil over a medium heat

6 - Take the butternut squash and using a spoon remove the seeds and scoop out all of the soft insides

7 - Add the butternut squash to the onions and peppers and mix, keep on a low heat for 10 minutes

8 - Drain the cooked spaghetti and return it to the pan

9 - Add as much or as little of the red pesto as you like, depending on taste, we love red pesto and we added the whole jar

10 - Place the butternut squash, red onion and red pepper mixture to the spaghetti and combine them all together then serve

The butternut squash breaks down in the pasta and leaves a delicious sweet flavour. Combined with the sweetness of the red onions and red peppers this really is a yummy pasta treat! It is hard to believe that a meal so sweet can be so good for you, but it is!

I made this meal for only £3.26 and I still have spaghetti left for another meal. That is a great, budgeting 65p per portion! Not only is it cheap to make but is full of vegetable goodness!

Enjoy x