Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

Does anyone else look for any excuse to add mac and cheese to every occasion? I thought, why not add some pumpkin and make it a Thanksgiving side this fall?! My mom and I put together a butternut squash mac and cheese a couple of years ago, so I took the basics from that and tweaked it to work with pumpkin - it turned out delish! So, if you are looking for an easy side for Thanksgiving, or a cozy meal for a chilly fall day this is the one!

Ingredients

• 1 lb shell pasta or your favorite shaped or variety of pasta
  

For the cheese pumpkin sauce:

• 5 tablespoons butter

• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour

• 4 cups whole milk (2% will also do the trick)

• I cup pumpkin puree, homemade or canned

• 1 tablespoon mustard of choice - I used dijon

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

• 1/2 cup Dubliner cheese (This is a sweet and nutty cheese with an aged Parmesan flavor, if you can not find you can just do more Parmesan and emit the Dubliner)

• breadcrumbs

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 4 tablespoons chives or sage

• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375º and prepare a 9×13 baking dish or use individual serving dishes like I did in the picture.

2. Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.

3. To make the pumpkin cheese sauce:

• Heat a large pot over medium heat

• Add 3 tablespoons of butter and melt

• Add the flour and whisk together

• Slowly add in the milk while whisking the entire time

• Bring to a simmer to allow the milk to thicken.

4. Stir in pumpkin, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper.

5. Remove from the heat and add the cheddar, dubliner, and parmesan cheese string until completely melted. Then add the cooked pasta, coat completely then transfer to the 9x13 baking dish.

6. Prepare bread crumbs. Melt butter over low to medium heat. Add the chives (or sage) and let them crisp up for a minute or two in the butter. In a small bowl add butter to the breadcrumbs and mix well. Sprinkle evenly over the mac and cheese.

7. Bake for around 15-20 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden brown.

There you have it! A delicious, creative and very festive side dish that the whole family will love. It’s not easy to get kids to eat stuffing or squash, but it’s very easy for them to eat cheesy pasta - they don’t even need to know there’s a vegetable in it! If you try this recipe, let me know what you think!

Much Love,