Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

I subscribe to about 93402 recipe emails and this little lovely came through my inbox about a month ago. After some back-and-forth with my mac-and-cheese-purist brain, I decided to be brave and try it. I’d say my first bite was a little… interesting. But, after I got past my initial, “Hey, this isn’t Kraft!” assessment, I really dug in and loved it. It is so rich and sweet and comforting. I would definitely make this again.

Ingredients

2 cups elbow macaroni (cooked)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups whole milk
6 oz. grated Fontina cheese
1/2 cup + 3 oz. grated Parmesan cheese (separated)
15 oz. pureed pumpkin
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. olive oil

I would start by getting your pasta water on to boil and getting your cheeses all grated up.

I had never had Fontina before, but it was super mild and reminded me of mozzarella. It wasn’t a scary cheese at all ;)

Cook your pasta according to the box directions. While that’s cooking up, you can make your sauce. Just like with my Favorite Mac and Cheese recipe, you start this sauce with a roux. I used to be scared of messing up a roux, but honestly it gets easier and easier every time you do it. Start by melting 2 Tbsp. butter in a saucepan. Once that has melted, add 2 Tbsp. of flour and whisk until smooth (*note, you always use the same amount of butter or fat as you do flour when making a roux).

Some sauces call to pour the milk in slowly. For this one, go ahead and dump all 2 cups in. Continue whisking until the sauce thickens and it is smooth with no lumps.

Now its time to add your pumpkin and cheese (add only the 3 oz. of parmesan to the sauce the rest is for topping)!

Get everything mixed until melted and smooth and add your sage and then your pasta.

Coat the pasta thoroughly and then pour into your baking dish.

Mine seemed SUPER runny. Like, so soupy I wanted to dump half the sauce out. Don’t do it. The sauce will thicken up immensely while in the oven. Mine was almost a little dry because yeah, okay, I didn’t use ALL my sauce because the soupy-ness scared me. Don’t be like me! Use all the sauce. It will turn out creamy and perfect. I promise.

Before baking, in a separate dish, mix the 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and olive oil until everything is well coated. Sprinkle the topping evenly over your dish and then bake for 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the top is brown.

I’m trying to make as many fall inspired recipes as humanly possible before this beautiful season turns into the icy, snowhell known as winter. If you think I was already a comfort food addict, just you wait.