#macaroni and cheese
Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Sausage and Peppers
This was our delicious dinner last night! Yum. My husband said that I’m an awesome chef. This creamy mac and cheese is sweet and amazing with just a hint of nutmeg for a delicious Fall bite. Here’s how to make this:
Cut a butternut squash in half, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Place it in a roasting dish, cut side up, bake at 375 for 45 minutes until fork tender. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
While the squash bakes: Saute 4 Italian sausages in a skillet. Add 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 chopped sweet onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until the sausages start to brown. Add 4 cloves finely chopped garlic and 2 bell peppers cut in large slices. I used red bell but you can use green or red, whatever you like. Once the sausage is mostly cooked, add 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, blended with a stick blender or cut roughly, whichever you prefer. Season with ½ tsp Italian seasoning or ½ tsp dried basil, ¼ tsp sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer the tomato sauce on low until it bubbles and the veggies and sausage cook, about 15 minutes.
Boil salted water for pasta. Cook any macaroniyou like according to package directions, make sure not to overcook cause it will cook further in the oven. Scoop the cooled squash out of it’s shell, add to a food processor or bowl, add ¾ cup milk or cream, 2 tbsp butter, salt and pepper, ½ tsp fresh grated nutmegand puree until smooth. Grate somecheese, whatever you like. I used about 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar and white cheddar, with a little Parmigiano Reggiano for nutty sharpness. The butternut squash makes the creamy base for the sauce so you can go easy on the cheese, or not. It’ll still comes out great even with a little bit of cheese. I love cheese, so I used a good amount. Stir in by hand the grated cheese. If it’s too thick, you can thin it with ¼ to ½ cup more milk, water or chicken or veggie stock. Toss the cooked pasta in the squash and cheese mixture.
Scoop some of the sausage, pepper tomato sauce to the bottom of a buttered baking dish, top with some of the squash macaroni and cheese, add a little more cheese on top and bake for 10 to 20 minutes until bubbling and ridiculous. The time in the oven depends on how big your baking dish is. If you put it all in one big casserole it will take about 20 minutes. I like to use 3 or 4 of these individual dishes so it cooks quickly because I’m always starving. Have a great weekend Tumblrs!
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