One of the most popular dishes on this blog has been the butternut mac and cheese. It's certainly one of the most popular at my house. This dish has served us well at several Wednesday night Lost and/or Project Runway watching parties, and countless other random nights when I had a multitude of squash to use up from our farm share. I first posted about it last January and a year later people are still trying it (despite the fact that this blog has been all but left for dead since Thanksgiving. Umm.... sorry, guys.) In fact my friend Dave emailed me today with his tales of success, mess, and modifications to the recipe.
He's not the only one who's been making some changes. I have been tinkering over the past year with the recipe and I think I have finally found the perfect version. The first modification I made was keeping some of the squash in chunks instead of pureeing it all in with the cheese sauce. I liked the orangeness and richness that the pureed squash lent to the cheese sauce, but I missed the contrast of sweet and salty that you get from carmelized chunks of squash, which was lost in the blended texture. So I settled on a version with half the squash pureed and half roasted in chunks.
Also I experimented with reducing the amount of butter and in the end, I chopped off an entire tablespoon. (OK not that impressive, but considering the original recipe I adapted it from had an entire stick of butter, I think getting it down to half that is pretty good.) Since I reduced the butter, I also had to adjust the amount of flour, milk, and broth in the sauce. But I chose not to reduce the cheese amount at all, because, cmon it's mac and CHEESE.
Over time I decided I liked a little more kick in the sauce so I increased the amount of cayenne by a 1/4 teaspoon.
The final change I made was to bake the casserole in the oven rather than crisping the top under the broiler. I kept on getting little burnt fringes when I did the broiler, and I find that the oven browning is more reliable plus it gives the noodles time to absorb more of the cheesy flavor. It takes a little longer but it's worth it in my opinion. If you roast the squash the day before it's still a pretty quick dish to make.
Dave alerted me to a caveat with the breadcrumb topping - prepared breadcrumbs do not mix well with the melted butter - it creates a pasty texture that is difficult to sprinkle over the casserole. So stick to homemade or panko breadcrumbs.
And now, without further ado, I present you with the final recipe:
Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
1 pound elbow macaroni
4 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg plus more for sprinkling
heaping 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 slice of bread - OR - 1 cup panko crumbs
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice squash in half and discard seeds . Peel one of the squash halves and cut into 1-inch cubes. Spray the half and the chunks with cooking oil and sprinkle with a little nutmeg. Place the squash half, cut side down, on a baking sheet and scatter the squash chunks next to it in a single layer. Roast for 45 minutes until very tender.
While squash is cooking, make breadcrumbs by putting 1 slice of bread in the food processor and pulsing until it creates fine breadcrumbs. Set aside.
After removing squash from the oven, reduce the heat to 350.
When squash has cooled, set aside the chunks of squash. Peel skin off the squash half and discard. Puree squash half in food processor until it has a smooth consistency. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt generously. Boil pasta to al dente - about 6 minutes. Drain pasta and set aside.
Melt 3 Tablespoons butter (set aside 1 Tablespoon) and slowly stir in the 1/3 cup of flour to form a paste.
Off heat, SLOWLY whisk in 1 1/2 cups of milk. Return to medium low heat until sauce fully blends and thickens.
Add pureed squash to the thickened sauce.
Add mustard, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of cheese (set aside 1/2 cup for the topping) and 1 cup of stock, alternating cheese and stock by cupfuls. Taste sauce, adjust seasonings if needed.
Combine pasta, squash chunks, and cheese sauce in a large casserole dish, toss to coat evenly.
Melt the remaining Tablespoon of butter and blend with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and the breadcrumbs to form topping. Sprinkle mixture over the macaroni.
Place macaroni uncovered in a 350 degree oven until cheese sauce is bubbling and breadcrumb topping is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
Serves 8, leftovers freeze well if you're so inclined. Reheat frozen portions in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes or just nuke it.
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
1 pound elbow macaroni
4 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg plus more for sprinkling
heaping 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 slice of bread - OR - 1 cup panko crumbs
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice squash in half and discard seeds . Peel one of the squash halves and cut into 1-inch cubes. Spray the half and the chunks with cooking oil and sprinkle with a little nutmeg. Place the squash half, cut side down, on a baking sheet and scatter the squash chunks next to it in a single layer. Roast for 45 minutes until very tender.
While squash is cooking, make breadcrumbs by putting 1 slice of bread in the food processor and pulsing until it creates fine breadcrumbs. Set aside.
After removing squash from the oven, reduce the heat to 350.
When squash has cooled, set aside the chunks of squash. Peel skin off the squash half and discard. Puree squash half in food processor until it has a smooth consistency. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt generously. Boil pasta to al dente - about 6 minutes. Drain pasta and set aside.
Melt 3 Tablespoons butter (set aside 1 Tablespoon) and slowly stir in the 1/3 cup of flour to form a paste.
Off heat, SLOWLY whisk in 1 1/2 cups of milk. Return to medium low heat until sauce fully blends and thickens.
Add pureed squash to the thickened sauce.
Add mustard, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of cheese (set aside 1/2 cup for the topping) and 1 cup of stock, alternating cheese and stock by cupfuls. Taste sauce, adjust seasonings if needed.
Combine pasta, squash chunks, and cheese sauce in a large casserole dish, toss to coat evenly.
Melt the remaining Tablespoon of butter and blend with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and the breadcrumbs to form topping. Sprinkle mixture over the macaroni.
Place macaroni uncovered in a 350 degree oven until cheese sauce is bubbling and breadcrumb topping is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
Serves 8, leftovers freeze well if you're so inclined. Reheat frozen portions in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes or just nuke it.
thanks for the update! I was thinking about making this again.. I'll be sure to use the New and Improved version.
Posted by: bookishbiker | 01/22/2008 at 02:34 PM
i love mac and cheese, so i'll have to try this recipe!
Posted by: bold as love | 01/22/2008 at 03:56 PM
Oooh, a kid friendly butternut squash dish! Sounds good! Thanks!
Posted by: Ln | 01/22/2008 at 06:45 PM
What is this "discard the seeds" nonsense? Saute them on low-med heat with butter (and salt, and whatever) until they "pop!" Fresh squash seeds are the best!
We grew butternut squash in our small yard last summer. The leaves spread EVERYWHERE, but the plant itself takes up very little room. We didn't take them off the vine until they were ripe, and they were the most beautiful, tasty squash I've had. Bright orange inside. If you have have a garden, you must plant these.
Posted by: verena | 01/22/2008 at 10:06 PM
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I'll surely try to make this one.
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pearl
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Posted by: pearl | 06/17/2008 at 07:22 AM
I hope you like it Pearl! It can be challenging to find a butternut squash at this time of year, but I've heard people also have had success using the cubed, frozen squash you can sometimes find in the frozen veggie section at Trader Joe's or other grocery stores.
Posted by: Girly Mae | 06/24/2008 at 09:33 PM
[this is good]
Posted by: penguin | 01/20/2009 at 01:24 PM
[this is good]
Posted by: Jacob1 | 01/25/2009 at 01:37 PM
[this is good]
Posted by: adler | 03/15/2009 at 01:16 PM