Holy.
Moly.
Cheesy macaroni.
I don’t eat a ton of pasta. But after recently stumbling across this recipe on How Sweet Eats, and almost salivating to death, I knew that I HAD to make it. I figured a Sunday night over a long weekend would be the perfect night for this delicious comfort food. It didn’t take much arm twisting to convince Tim either. Let’s be honest, he’ll jump on any chance he gets to make pasta just cause I’m “in the mood for it.”
We changed the recipe up a bit, and although I’m sure my applesauce substitution doesn’t taste as amazing as brown butter does, I think this recipe is pretty bomb diggity. I mean, I started this post with “holy, moly, cheesy macaroni.”
Better than holy moly to the guacamole…. 😉
Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
Recipe inspired by How Sweet Eats
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked whole wheat pasta of choice (we used rotini!)
- 4 cups 1/2-inch cubed uncooked butternut squash
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk
- Sprinkling of shredded mozzarella cheese
- Sprinkling of shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- Basil leaves
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare water for pasta and once it comes to a boil, cook pasta according to directions, then drain.
- While water is boiling, heat a large cast-iron (or oven-safe) skillet over medium-low heat.
- Add olive oil, then toss in squash with salt, pepper and nutmeg
- Add stock and cover skillet, cooking for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until squash is soft and can easily be mashed.
- Remove cover and reduce heat to low. Mash squash with a potato masher or forks, smoothing it out with a spoon to remove all the chunks. You could also put in a food processor here.
- Add in milk, however much cheese you want (depends on how cheesy you want your meal!), stirring until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes. If mixture still seems way too starchy, add in more milk, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring for a while.
- Stir in applesauce, again mixing for a minute or so until incorporated.
- Add the pasta into the sauce, taking a few minutes to fully toss so all pasta is coated.
- Top with remaining cheese and bake for 15 minutes. If a bubbly, golden topping is desired, broil for 1-2 minutes on high after cooking.
- Sprinkle with basil (or other herbs!) and
stuff your faceenjoy!
If you guys make this one, please leave a comment or write on my F&F Facebook page immediately. I must know how it came out!
What’s your favorite Sunday night comfort food? Any other amazing Mac N Cheese recipes out there that I can steal? Do you prefer your pasta hot or cold…?
Hot initially, and then cold for leftovers is how I like it!
And now that I’ve made you all crave cheesy pasta for breakfast, have a fab day.
BrownEyed Baker posted a recipe for this this week too! It’s already on my dinner plan for next week or maybe over the weekend! Oh, and I’m not healthifying it in any way (ok maybe whole wheat pasta) 🙂
this looks similar to a Cooling Light recipe from last fall that I made and LOVED!! I, too, am not a big pasta person but this recipe definitely was a winner!