Donal's Family Kitchen45 Minutes

Roast Butternut Squash, Goat’s Cheese & Sage Butter Tortellini

Name: Roast Butternut Squash, Goat’s Cheese & Sage Butter Tortellini
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1kg squash or butternut squash, cut into wedges; 1 whole garlic bulb, cloves separated but left unpeeled; 10 sage leaves, plus a few extra to serve; Good pinch of chilli flakes; 3 tbsp olive oil; 250g soft goats' cheese (or vegetarian alternative); Squeeze of lemon juice; Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling; 75g roughly chopped hazelnuts; 250g pack shop-bought tortellini (such as spinach and ricotta or pumpkin); 25g unsalted butter; Drizzle of runny honey; Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

A rather bougie way of zhuzhing up shop-bought ingredients with fabulous results (most of the ingredients for this recipe can be bunged into a shopping trolley on the way home from work). The whipped goats' cheese also works well as a dip; add a little cream cheese if you prefer a milder flavour and then top it with oven-roasted cherry tomatoes and pitta chips for dipping.

Donal SkehanFrom the series · Donal's Family Kitchen

45 min totalServes 4Medium

Time45 min

Serves4

SkillMedium

ShowSuper Food In Minutes

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6. Put the squash into a roasting tray with the garlic, sage and chilli flakes. Drizzle with the oil and season well, then toss to combine and roast for 40 minutes, turning once, until golden and slightly sticky. Once cooked, squish the garlic out of their skins and mix into the squash mix.

Meanwhile, beat the cheese with the lemon juice and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil with a whisk or in a small food processor until light, fluffy and smooth. Season well and scoop into a bowl. Toast the nuts and set aside.

Cook the tortellini in boiling salted water for 2-7 minutes then drain. Fry the remaining sage leaves in a little olive oil in a frying pan (skillet) until crisp, then scoop onto kitchen paper. Add the butter to the frying pan until it foams and smells nutty, then toss the tortellini in the brown butter.

Divide the whipped cheese between four plates. Top with the buttery tortellini, roasted squash and toasted nuts. Drizzle with honey, scatter with sage leaves and serve.

Cook's notes

Give the squash the full 40 minutes and turn it once so it caramelises and goes properly sticky rather than just steaming soft, then squish the roasted garlic out of its skins and mix it through.
Whipping the goats' cheese with lemon and a little oil is a great hack — beat it until genuinely light and fluffy, as that soft base is the contrast against the sweet squash.
Crisp the sage leaves in oil first and set them aside, then use the same pan to brown the butter so nothing burns.
Brown butter is a skill worth banking — take it off the heat as soon as it foams and smells nutty, toss the drained tortellini straight in, and you'll find yourself using the same trick on other dishes.
Toast the hazelnuts until fragrant for the crunch and bitterness that stops the plate feeling too rich.

Serve with A simple peppery rocket salad dressed with lemon is all it needs alongside, plus the drizzle of honey and crisp sage on top. A glass of dry Italian white like a Soave or Pinot Grigio suits it well.

Make ahead & storage Best assembled and eaten straight away while the tortellini and butter are hot. The roasted squash can be made a day ahead and gently reheated, and the whipped cheese keeps covered in the fridge for two to three days.

45 MinutesVegetarian

Recipe by Donal Skehan · From the series Donal's Family Kitchen · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 13 July 2026 · Updated 15 July 2026

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

864kcal

26gprotein

85gcarbs

50gfat

Approximate — calculated from the ingredient list using USDA food data. A guide, not a medical figure.