By: Food Editor Sandra Violet Clark
A Veggie Loaded Mac & Cheese
1 hour and 10 minutes, including inactive baking time • Serves 6
Come play with your food! We’re carving headstones on squash and making a veg-loaded Halloween mac and cheese. It’s a happy cheesy pasta, packed with lots of roasted butternut squash—and big flavor. The pickled jalapeno brine contrasts with the richness of the cheese and adds so much. Salty, creamy, tangy, and playfully spooky for Halloween.
Recipe:
2 tbsp. olive oil + a little to oil the baking dish
1 butternut or 2 honey-nut squashes (2-2½ lbs.), peeled, seeded (Cut half into ½” cubes; save the other half to carve into gravestones)
1½ tbsp. sea salt
2½ c. vegetable or chicken stock
¾ c. cream, half and half, or 1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
½ lb. curly pasta or macaroni
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
8—16 oz. shredded gruyere or sharp white cheddar (or mix 50/50 with a melty cheese like fontina, divided)
A few grinds of fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp. pickled jalapeno brine or 1 tsp. hot sauce
1 c. panko or fresh bread crumbs
- Preheat oven to 450. Place all squash on a lined baking sheet; toss with oil and 1 tsp. salt. Roast for 30 minutes.
- 15 minutes later, start pasta. After the squash has roasted for 15 mins, add pasta, stock, cream, and sea salt to a large, oven-safe skillet. Bring to a simmer, and stir regularly. When the pasta is done and the liquid has come to a thin sauce, gradually stir in most shredded cheese and all mustard. (Watch it, the sauce can quickly go from thin to thick very quickly.) If the pasta sauce seems a bit thick, stir in a few tbsp. water at a time to reach the desired consistency. Stir in pickled jalapeno brine.
- Pull the squash from the oven when tender; turn oven to broil. Fold in the cubes of roasted squash and sprinkle the remaining cheese + bread crumbs over top. Using a spoon, create space to plunge gravestones into pasta. Return pan to oven for 5-7 minutes to brown.
Swap: replace or add some of the squash tombstones with peeled potatoes for color variation.
Add: Garnish with a sprinkle of rosemary and chile flakes. Boost veggies by adding 1-2 c. chopped cauliflower with the pasta, or add frozen peas/baby greens at the end.
Tip: Microwave whole squash for 1-2 minutes to make the skin easier to peel.
30-Second Cooking Lesson: Carve gravestones out of squash and potatoes!
Slice ¾-1” slabs and use a knife to round the tops of a few. Use a metal skewer as your chisel and carve RIP or other spooky sayings. To darken the letters, try rubbing a bit of cocoa powder or baking soda on the tip of your carving device. Roast with the other squash.
