The Perfect Autumn Comfort: Butternut Squash Mac-n-Cheese

Last month, my husband and I dropped our daughter off for her first year of college at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. It’s been a great experience so far with all of the clubs and activities available, including a cooking demo she attended with a focus on using local produce, where the chef prepared butternut squash mac-n-cheese and green beans. She texted us a picture of the dish saying how “scrumptious” it was, and not only did it look great, but I was also just so happy she was eating something healthy and nutritious. I was so inspired by the idea of making this seasonal mac-n-cheese that I set out to prepare my own version.

There were a few different approaches I was considering when thinking about how to make this recipe, but I knew the butternut squash had to be the star of the show and not get masked by other flavors. I considered using a bechamel base (milk thickened with a roux) which is the classic way to make a cheese sauce, but I ended up simplifying the process in order to make the squash shine.

The sauce consists of just 2 ingredients… roasted butternut squash and milk. That’s it! To start, cut a medium-size butternut squash in half lengthwise and place it cut-side down on a parchment-lined sheet tray.

Roast the squash until very tender, about 1 hour, and allow to cool.

Once cool, scoop out the seeds and place half of the roasted squash (use the whole squash for 1 pound of pasta) without the skin in a blender jar along with your milk of choice. You can use anything from skim to whole milk, or even use half and half or heavy cream to make it richer.

Add salt (I used truffle salt) and pepper and blend until completely smooth.

The wonderful thing about this mixture is that it looks exactly like cheese sauce, and has the potential to trick kids (and adults) into thinking it’s actually the real deal.

My recipe calls for 8 ounces of pasta which requires 1/2 of the butternut squash (approximately 1 pound), but you can sub in any other type of roasted squash or even baked sweet potatoes. Steamed carrots would also be delicious. Just keep in mind that the sauce should be a silky consistency once blended and have a medium thickness that can pour pretty easily, so adjust the amount of milk if using other vegetables that have different water contents than butternut squash.

Once the sauce is all blended, silky and smooth, pour it over your cooked short pasta of choice (I like rotini) and add your cheeses.

In this case, I wanted a cheese with a sharp and nutty quality to complement the sweetness of the squash, so I recommend an aged sharp white or yellow cheddar or Gruyere cheese. I had the best of both worlds because I found a cheddar-gruyere cheese at my store, and it was great! I also added some grated parmesan to accentuate the nuttiness.

Mix it all together, pour into a baking dish, and bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving with a salad or any vegetable side dish you like. My salad consisted of arugula, a dice of roasted butternut squash, pears and almonds, dressed with an apple cider vinaigrette.

Butternut Squash Mac-N-Cheese

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 4-6 servings

Active time: 30 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour, 30 minutes

1 medium size (approximately 2 pounds) butternut squash, halved lengthwise (see note, below)

1 1/2 cups milk

Salt and pepper to taste

8 ounces rotini pasta, cooked until al dente and drained

1 cup aged cheddar or gruyere cheese, grated

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 375°.
2. Place the squash, cut side down, on a parchment-lined sheet tray and roast until knife tender, about 1 hour. Allow to cool.
3. Using a spoon, remove the seeds from the squash and discard. Working with just one half of the roasted squash, scoop the squash from the skin and place in a blender.
4. Add the milk and season with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and silky. The sauce should have a medium pouring consistency, so adjust with more milk if necessary.
5. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce, and stir in the cheeses. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Note: The pasta will look very saucy, but the starches from the pasta will thicken the sauce while baking, so don’t worry.
6. Pour the pasta into a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.
7. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Note:

You only need half the squash for this recipe, but you can roast the whole thing and double the sauce; freeze what you don’t use.

If this blog is getting you excited for all of the fall produce headed our way, check out our October and November classes. You certainly will not want to miss our Virtual Winter Squash Workshop on Sunday, November 12 at 11am CST or Autumn Vegetarian Harvest on Monday, November 20 at 11am.