Blatantly stolen from her
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash (KS prefers acorn because it is not gross)
1 pound elbow macaroni
4 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg plus more for sprinkling
heaping 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 slice of bread - OR - 1 cup panko crumbs
Optional add in: Caramelized onions.
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice squash in half and discard seeds . Peel one of the squash halves and cut into 1-inch cubes. Spray the half and the chunks with cooking oil and sprinkle with a little nutmeg. Place the squash half, cut side down, on a baking sheet and scatter the squash chunks next to it in a single layer. Roast for 45 minutes until very tender.
While squash is cooking, make breadcrumbs by putting 1 slice of bread in the food processor and pulsing until it creates fine breadcrumbs. Set aside.
After removing squash from the oven, reduce the heat to 350.
When squash has cooled, set aside the chunks of squash. Peel skin off the squash half and discard. Puree squash half in food processor until it has a smooth consistency. Set aside. (I pureed it all. Chunks have no place in MnC)
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt generously. Boil pasta to al dente - about 6 minutes. Drain pasta and set aside.
Melt 3 Tablespoons butter (set aside 1 Tablespoon) and slowly stir in the 1/3 cup of flour to form a paste.
Off heat, SLOWLY whisk in 1 1/2 cups of milk. Return to medium low heat until sauce fully blends and thickens.
Add pureed squash to the thickened sauce.
Add mustard, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of cheese (set aside 1/2 cup for the topping) and 1 cup of stock, alternating cheese and stock by cupfuls. Taste sauce, adjust seasonings if needed.
Combine pasta, squash chunks, and cheese sauce in a large casserole dish, toss to coat evenly.
Melt the remaining Tablespoon of butter and blend with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and the breadcrumbs to form topping. Sprinkle mixture over the macaroni.
Place macaroni uncovered in a 350 degree oven until cheese sauce is bubbling and breadcrumb topping is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
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4 comments:
ok, I made this using Acorn squash. AWESOME. I used this shape of pasta and it worked out awesome. Once the cheese gets in, it can not get out.
http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/i-pasta-chio.html
I also caramelized some onions and mixed them with Panko for the topping, and omitted the "more cheese on top" part because I don't like when the cheese gets crusty.
Fucking awesome, all I'm saying.
Just made this again, because I finally finished the last stuff from my freezer. I used up the cheese I had in my fridge, which included some blue cheese and some taco cheese mix (minus weird spices)
Delicious again!
RE: Acorn squash: JG agrees!! After my own success with this recipe using (butternut as called for), and upon finally tasting acorn squash, I know in my heart that acorn is the right choice. I'm so over butternut!
oh man, another crazy variation on this.
Carmelized onions are just part of the staple now.
Today I also added some tomatoes and some broccoli because I needed to use them STAT! and I got some fancy cheese which was orange striped with blue cheese. I used a hunk of leftovers from the last fancy squash dinner I made. UNREAL.
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