Welcome to a new weekly segment, our President Emalee’s favorite recipes. Where she will rate the recipe from easy to hard to make as well as tell you all the instructions and ingredients needed to make it! This week we are featuring Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese.
This recipe was not too hard to make. It can be made with fresh butternut squash or canned. I used canned, so that did make it a little easier.
Ingredients:
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Pasta: Whatever type (semolina, whole-wheat, gluten-free, etc.) and shape (shells, noodles, ziti, etc.) of pasta preferred.
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Butter (or oil): Which we will use to sauté the garlic.
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Garlic: 3 cloves
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Butternut squash: You can either make this recipe with raw butternut squash (peeled, seeded, and diced into small cubes), already-roasted butternut squash (cubes or puree), or canned butternut squash.
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Veggie stock: Chicken stock, also works if that is what is on hand.
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Milk: I used whole milk for this recipe. That said, you can use lighter cow’s milk or half-and-half instead. You could also sub in plain,unsweetened plant-based milk, such as almond milk or oat milk.
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Sharp cheddar cheese
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Pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions:
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Cook the pasta. Heat a pot of generously salted water until boiling.
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Cook the sauce. Sauté the garlic in the remaining butter. Then, add in the butternut squash and vegetable stock, bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook until the squash is tender. Transfer the mixture to a blender and stir in the milk. Then, slightly opening the cap on the blender lid so that excess steam can escape) pulse the mixture until smooth. Return the pureed mixture to the sauté pan, and stir in the cheddar cheese until melted. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
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Put it all together. Once the pasta is drained, return it to the stockpot, pour in the sauce, and give it all a good toss until combine
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Enjoy!
It is pretty simple and a great fall time recipe!