I have made macaroni and cheese from scratch maybe once or twice in my life, this time probably is my third time.

I have a really good friend who’s favorite food is mac and cheese and she makes it every chance she gets. She will always order it at restaurants if it’s on the menu . She tries different recipes all the time, adding different cheeses and add-in ingredients. Some are good, some are ok, none have made me want to make any myself, until she made this pumpkin macaroni and cheese a few years ago.

I remember making a mental note to make it then I completely forgot about it. Until today.  I had some leftover roasted pumpkin in the refrigerator and out of the blue I remembered that macaroni and cheese.

This is pretty straightforward to make. If you have pumpkin or squash cooked it goes together really quickly.

I barely adapted this recipe. My recipe notes, things I would change or try will be * at the bottom of the page

Ingredients

• 1 cup of cooked pumpkin/squash. If you don’t have any cooked pumpkin or squash here is a ‘how to’ post from a few years ago.
• salt and pepper
• 16 ounces pasta, your choice gluten free is fine
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons sage, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons flour, again, gluten free is fine
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded – I used a combo of smoked Gruyere and mozzarella
• 4 amaretti cookies, crumbled, weird sounding but delicious, you could use ginger snap crumbs or just bread crumbs.

Directions

1. Cook the pasta as directed.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat add the sage and cook until the butter is bubbling and it has turned golden brown.
3. Mix in the flour and let simmer until it returns to a light golden brown.
4. Add the milk, nutmeg, mustard and cheese and simmer until it thickens and the cheese has melted.
5. Mix the pumpkin, pasta and cheese sauce and pour into a baking dish topping it with the amaretti cookie crumbs.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown on the top and bubbling on the sides, about 30-40 minutes.

I handed this to my husband to try and he said he doesn’t really like macaroni and cheese. I said, me either, try it. He ate the whole bowl.

*Things I would do different, or try.

• More pumpkin, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of roasted pumpkin
• Maybe cube some pumpkin and leave it in large chucks
• Use cauliflower and or broccoli instead of pasta

I am going to make this as a side for Thanksgiving. I will make it ahead and finish it while I make gravy and slice the turkey.

This would be a great pot-luck dish too.

Only two more weeks of CSA. See you at pickup.

Mo