Giada's Penne with Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

I was sewing last week and had Food Network on the TV. Giada DiLaurentis was cooking and she made this recipe. I love Butternut Squash, so thought that I would try. She also made salmon cakes, but have not made those yet. Tonight was a vegetarian meal. Jeff was instructed to have his MEAT at lunch. (he had a baconator at Wendy's) Lots of food I make tastes just OK , but this was really good!!!

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 (2#) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4" cubes
1 onion, diced into 1/2" pieces (I used a sweet onion)
Olive oil for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 # penne pasta - used one that was a smaller size penne that a regular one
1 cup (8oz.) goat cheese, crumbled
1 packed cup chopped fresh basil leaves (I just bought a small pkg of basil at the store and took off stems and chopped)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted ( bake walnuts at 350 degrees for 8 minutes to toast)
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Put an oven rack in the upper third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spray a baking sheet, liberally, with vegetable oil cooking spray. I covered a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and then sprayed it.
3. Mix the squash and onion together and arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the vegetables are golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
4. While the squash mixture is cooking, fill a large pot of salted water to and put burner on low to start heating. When there is about 10 minutes to go on the squash, heat the water to a boil. When it is boiling, add the 1# pasta and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water. I call it pasta broth. Put the pasta, goat cheese and 1 cup of pasta broth in a large serving bowl. Toss until cheese is melted and forms a creamy sauce. Add the squash and onion mixture, the walnuts and the basil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper, to taste. I then added the 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

** I didn't add the walnuts to the whole batch. I don't really care for nuts all that much, so we added at the table. Jeff liked, I didn't really like the extra crunch. I probably would toast again, just to not have to do that step. The real flavor is from the butternut!! So sweet. I can't even say that I am a goat cheese lover or hater, but it was mild and yummy!