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Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese, with an autumnal twist. It’s creamy, cheesy and velvety, with just a hint of spice. It’s cheesy pasta at its finest – what’s not to love? The beauty of this dish is that you can customise it to your liking. You can use whatever combination of cheese you’d like, and if you’re not a fan of pumpkin, you can swap it out for butternut squash or even sweet potato.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Pasta, Vegetarian
Ingredients
Scale
- 300 g dried macaroni or shells
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 2 tbsps plain flour
- ½ tsp onion granules
- ½ tsp garlic granules
- 600 ml whole milk
- 350 g pumpkin purée
- 250 g grated cheese, reserve for topping
- 60 g grated parmigiano reggiano
- ½ tsp English mustard powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper, optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 220℃/fan 200℃. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until just short of al dente.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Then add the onion and garlic granules and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Gradually whisk in the milk and increase the heat to medium-high; we’re making a very loose béchamel (the pumpkin purée will thicken it up).
- Bring the béchamel to a simmer, whisking often. Whisk in the pumpkin purée and bring the sauce back to a simmer.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat. Whisk in the grated cheese, parmigiano reggiano, mustard powder and smoked paprika. Taste and season with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste.
- Drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the cheese sauce and stir to combine.
- Pour the mac and cheese into a baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake at 220℃ / 200℃ for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.
Notes
You can use a four cheese mix. I used equal parts red Leicester, double Gloucester, sharp cheddar and mozzarella.
