In the next few posts, I will share with you the Thanksgiving Menu I have chosen for this year.
For the main course, I will prepare a Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese. This mac and cheese packs a lot of nutritional punch and color from the butternut squash in the cheese sauce. You can substitute the squash for regular pumpkin. I works just the same.
Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
Steamed pumpkin or butternut squash – about 1 pound
1 pound whole-wheat elbow macaroni or other tubular pasta
2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk
4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1 1/3 cups)
4 ounces Blend of melting cheeses – Mozzarella, Asiago, Fontina, etc.
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Steam the butternut squash or pumpkin in a pot with just an inch of water. Season with salt. When it is cooked, puree in a food procesor.
- Bring a large pot to a boil for the pasta.
- Meanwhile, start building the cheese sauce. In a pot under medium heat, mix together the milk, blend and melt the cheeses, mix the mustard, and pureed butternut squash. Season with salt and pepper. Make sure the pot is big enough to accomodate the sauce and the pasta when it’s cooked.
- Add the macaroni to boling water seasoned with salt and cook until tender but firm.
- Drain cooked pasta and transfer to the pot with the cheese sauce. Mix well together.
- Transfer to a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and some of the leftover Melting Cheese blend all over the top.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes so the top is crisp and nicely browned. Everything is already cooked, you’re just heating everything together and browining the cheese on top.
This recipe is delicious. The mustard gives it a different and grown-up taste. You can also roast the butternut squash, which gives it a more robust flavor.
I did this recipe a few weeks ago at our Yoga Center and my friend Kathleen reviewed it in her blog.
Hope you like it too. Tell me all about it if you try it.
KarmaFree Cooking 
I just love butternut squash.I would never have thought to put it in a mac and cheese recipe but it sounds so wonderful! I will be sure to tell you all about it as soon as I have tried it! Thanks so much for posting the recipe!
Yumm! Just made this. It’s really great. I added some ground sage and a bit of cayenne pepper too!
Try adding fresh ground nutmeg, Yummy!
That butternut squash mac & cheese looks awesome! Just looking at it is making me hungry. I will have to make it some time. And the suggestion for adding nutmeg! Yum! These are some of my favorite things.
wow this looks gorgeous! i can’t wait to try it 🙂 a mac n’cheese without any butter and cream…that still looks amazing!
Made Madelyn’s Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese for dinner last night. It was so good! All the comfort of Mac and Cheese without feeling like a giant gut bomb went off half an hour later and the squash gave it such a nice hint of fall. Plus it was pretty quick to throw together after work if you were lazy like me and bought some already peeled and cut squash chunks. Dinner was on the table in less than an hour, and over 20 minutes was just chilling while it was in the oven.
Thanks HSRyan!!!!! I am so glad you liked it so much!
I haven’t made this recipe in a while. You know, always cooking up new stuff to bring to you folks. But after the overwhelming response over this recipe on FBook, I may have to buy myself a butternut squash pretty soon!!!! Gracias.