Baked rigatoni with squash, kale and ricotta

This delicious, melting and cheesy dish is also great with the addition of chorizo: just halve the ricotta and roast fat chunks of chorizo with the squash. Serves four to six.

600g butternut, acorn or onion squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
3 garlic cloves, bashed and peeled
1 pinch dried chilli
½ bunch sage, leaves picked
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
200g kale
400g rigatoni
250g ricotta
125g grated parmesan, plus extra to finish

Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Put the squash, tomatoes, garlic, chilli and sage in a roasting tray, season generously, then drizzle over the oil and mix with your hands so that every chunk of squash is coated. Roast for 25-35 minutes, shaking the tray occasionally, until the squash is a little crisp and the tomatoes are falling apart.

Meanwhile, tear the kale leaves from their stems. Bring a big pan of salted water to a boil, blanch the kale leaves until tender – no more than a few minutes – then transfer to a colander with a slotted spoon and leave to cool. Bring the water back to a boil and cook the pasta for a couple of minutes less than the instructions on the packet: you want it to be still a little firm to the bite.

Squeeze any remnants of water from the kale, finely chop and put in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the ricotta and half the parmesan with a fork, season generously, then stir half this mixture through the kale.

Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the cooking liquid, and return to the pan. Stir in the kale mix and enough of the reserved cooking water to make a wet sauce that coats the pasta. Tip into a big baking dish and scatter the roast squash, tomatoes and sage over the top.

Dollop the remaining ricotta mixture here and there, pushing some of it down into the pasta, sprinkle on the rest of the parmesan and drizzle with a little oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the parmesan has melted and the top is golden brown. I love this with a green salad.