Monday, June 9, 2008

Super Mac and Cheese

Prep & cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes 6 servings

This macaroni might not actually be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but the addition of nutritious butternut squash qualifies it for super-food status for moms and kids alike.

Serve it with last week’s healthy, mini turkey meat loaves and kids will be so pumped they’ll feel like heroes. Junior chefs can help by making the cheese sauce and mixing pasta and sauce altogether.


300 gr. whole wheat with flax cork screw (rotini) pasta (4 1/2 cups)
2 cups frozen diced butternut squash
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (7 oz)
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, optional

1. Bring of large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions adding the squash in the last three minutes of cooking time. Drain well and return to pot.
2. Melt butter in microwave in a medium sized glass bowl. Whisk in flour then stock. Microwave 3-5 minutes, whisking every 60 seconds until sauce has reached the consistency of pudding.
3. Stir in cheddar cheese and microwave another 60 seconds or until cheese has melted smoothly into sauce.
4. Stir sauce into pasta and squash, add parmesan cheese if using and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

5 comments:

Shauna said...

Sounds yummy! Who'd a thought to put squash in mac-n-cheese?

Rachel said...

I've seen this somewhere and it piqued my interest but then I couldn't find it again.
I'll have to give this a shot.
Thanks for posting it!! :-)

Mental P Mama said...

That looks fantastic!

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious! I'm avoiding cow's milk because my son seems to react to it in my breast milk, so I wondered if you had any tips for non-cow's milk cheese that melts well.

Anonymous said...

Oz: I would look at some great sheeps milk cheese to add to the mac and cheese. Two of my favourites are Manchego and any Pecorino varieties. Manchego is a Spanish sheep's milk cheese with a dark waxed covering that looks like it has a basket weave design pressed into it. The taste of Manchego changes from a little bit bland to a sharp nuttiness as it ages. It would go well with the sweetness of the squash.

There are many varieties of Pecorino which literally translates from Italian as "little sheep". Pecorino Romano is a fabulous hard grating cheese with tons of flavour. Mixing a younger pecorino with some aged cheese will give you a nice melting blend. Good luck. LeeAnne