Mac and Cheese ya'll. Mac and CHEESE. If your kids are anything like my daughter, here's the general reaction to cheesy pasta noodles: Eyes wide, shrieking (good shrieking) and a happy food dance. The problem with mac and cheese is two fold: it's addictive to kids and it's full of potentially processed chemical cheese. Even the organic version isn't rip-roaring with nutritional powerhouses. You can do a lot to mac and cheese and still make it super kid and tot-friendly, delicious, and loaded with veggies. I've done broccoli mac and cheese many times and even my husband, who hates broccoli, grudgingly admits that the combination works really well.
Butternut squash mac and cheese, however, takes it to a whole new level for me. I'm a huge fan of pureed butternut squash and love to add it to recipes in creative ways. I am not, however, a huge fan of roasting and peeling a whole butternut squash. Which is why I cheat and buy the pre-cut version from my grocery store.... and it is totally worth the extra money so I don't have to hack at the whole squash with a machete and look like a crazy person. Pureed squash can add a sweeter flavor to the dish, so I really flavor up this meal with herbs, spices, and a couple of different cheeses. You can make the sauce itself and just serve it over macaroni or you can bake it all together. This recipe can easily be doubled. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 lb pasta of your choice: elbow macaroni, rotini, penne
2 lbs of cut and peeled butternut squash
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of minced white onion
5-6 sage leaves
Freshly grated Parmesan - around 1 cup
Shredded Cheddar cheese - around 1 cup
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil
Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Before it gets too hot, throw in your cubes of butternut squash. I learned this the hard way....having a splish splash fun time with boiling water? Nope.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
It should take around 5-7 minutes for your squash to soften but that also depends on the size of the cubes, Smaller cubes = faster softening.
While the squash is boiling, get out a deep skillet and heat up some olive oil on medium high heat. Saute your onion for 5-7 minutes until translucent and then add your garlic and saute another 1-2 minutes.
Keep the flame on your onion and garlic on low heat while you puree your butternut squash. Time- saving tip: You can keep the same pot you used to boil your squash to boil the pasta. At this time, get your pasta going according to package directions. Once your squash is pureed into a smooth sauce, add it to your onion and garlic in the skillet and increase heat to medium. Slice up your sage leaves as thin as possible and add to your sauce. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and let is simmer on medium low heat for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, add 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese to the sauce and mix it well. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Add your cooked pasta to the casserole dish and then pour in your sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Cheddar cheese and mix it all really well. Top off the dish with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Bake uncovered for around 15 minutes until the cheese has melted. You can serve this with some grilled Italian Turkey sausage or just eat it as Meatless Monday dish. Your toddler will love this and you will love that there are multiple servings of veggies in each portion!!
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