Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese. {healthy}

September 9, 2012 Post a comment

Let me preface this blog entry, I am NOT a fan of mac and cheese.  Never have been.  Plus my kids aren’t in love with it either.  So we harvested 3 butternut squashes today and I had to come up with something to do with them.  My girls aren’t in love with butternut squash soup so I wanted to do something different.  I began by roasting them.

First step:

Slice the squash in half and place on a cookie sheet (lined or unlined).  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh Rosemary.  Place in a preheated 425 degree oven for 60-70 minutes or until fork tender.  Remove and let cool completely.

Second step… well what to do with these lovely roasted squashes now?  I thought I would puree them into a sauce.  For what?  I still had no idea.  So I removed the skin and tossed the flesh into my blender.  I added 1/2 cup of non fat, plain Chobani.  Too thick for my blender!  Ha!  I needed liquid.  I added 1/2 cup of chicken broth (veggie broth would work as well).  Still, too thick!  I added 1 cup of white wine.  Yes… I did!  Then I added some additional Rosemary.  4 garlic cloves.  Shaved some asiago cheese (1/2 cup).  Salt and pepper.  It still seemed really thick.  I poured it into a stock pot and heated it up.  I added additional broth and kept stirring.  It was so creamy and delicious.

Okay so now what???  Ha ha.  Sorry but this is my thought process.
Step three!  Pasta!  I cooked up some tri-colored pasta.  Took a ladle full of the pasta water and added it to the sauce.  Drained the pasta and then combined the two.  Seemed to be reminiscent of a mac n cheese but so much better for you and totally fabulous!  I spooned the mixture into a pretty new baking dish and decided it needed a topping!

Step 4:  To a mixing bowl I added 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs and 2 tablespoons of melted butter.  Give it a good toss to coat and sprinkle on to of the pasta mixture.  Broil, on low, for about 1 minute.  Keep an eye on this because it will burn fast!  Then serve!

This dish was very well-received.  Everyone gobbled it down, having NO idea what it was :)  Ha ha.

Sorry for the babbling and the non-typical writing style for a recipe but that’s how I rolled through this one.  You can certainly add, delete by preference.  Enjoy!

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Kelsey @ K&K Test Kitchen September 10, 2012 at 10:12 PM

This sounds great! I’ve been meaning to try a butternut squash mac n cheese for a while now. Glad to know your family enjoyed this even as non-mac n cheese fans!

I kind of like the idea of playing with the proportions a bit to get the sauce to what’s right depending on our own preference. I am a little bit curious about how big your 3 squashes were though and whether you used all 3? Thanks!

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robinr September 10, 2012 at 10:14 PM

They were quite average. Probably weighed 2.5 lbs each. I hope this helps!

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The Better Baker September 10, 2012 at 10:48 PM

I LOVE butternut squash and have been wanting to try this very thing. Just got 3 of them yesterday – this recipe has been added to my list of to-try-soon.
Thanks -

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robinr September 10, 2012 at 10:50 PM

That’s great! I have to admit, it was creamy deliciousness :) )) Pop back and let me know what you thought of it! Robin

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Christy September 11, 2012 at 4:25 AM

Ooh, definitely appreciating posts like this since I’m trying to cut back on cheese! Plus I loooove butternut squash- roasted, baked, soup-ed, anything!

I totally get your method- that’s how most of my recipes tend to go :)

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robinr September 11, 2012 at 10:06 AM

Ha ha… glad I’m not alone! We loved this recipe… hope you do too! Let me know what you think when you try it. Thanks Christy! oxoxox

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Kate | Food Babbles September 11, 2012 at 9:59 PM

This sounds awesome! When I saw it on Facebook, I couldn’t wait to read about it. I have a hard time getting my middle daughter to eat anything other than carrots so I’m definitely going to give this a try! I think it sounds fantastic so it will be made at my house this week for sure.

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robinr September 11, 2012 at 10:18 PM

YAY Kate!!! I’m glad you found the recipe. We aren’t fans of mac n cheese but wow this is really tasty plus a super flexible recipe. Pop back and let me know how everyone likes it :)

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