I have been dying to add butternut squash into my Mac ‘n Cheeze recipe ever since I featured Lou’s Macaroni Un-Cheese recipe in my Recipe Link Love last week. Butternut squash pureed into macaroni and cheese just sounds like a match made in heaven, doesn’t it? It is also a fun way to sneak in another veggie.
I also happen to love Butternut Squash, but I always forget to buy it at the grocery store, so this was a great reminder to buy one.
I ended up playing around with my original cheese sauce recipe and I made two versions, the second one I will be sharing with you today.
The first thing you do is peel and chop half of a Butternut Squash. Place it into a bowl and add a teaspoon of olive oil and some salt ‘n pepa!
Roast in the oven for 40 minutes at 425F, flipping once half way through baking. You can do this ahead of time if preferred.
Buttery squashy deliciousness!
While the squash is roasting, make your ‘cheeze sauce’ in the food processor. I adapted my original recipe quite a bit and I was really happy with the result. This cheeze sauce is also easier to make than the other version which is always nice.
Now, add the roasted squash into the cheeze sauce and process until smooth. It makes about 3.5 cups of sauce.
Cook your desired pasta. I used a full bag (~450 grams or 4.5 cups dry pasta) of Brown Rice Penne for the casserole option.
Drain the pasta and add in the cheese sauce. Depending on how much sauce you want, you might not use it all. I also added some peas and you can get creative with any kinds of mix-ins you want. Broccoli is also fantastic. You can also add a bit of non-dairy milk if the sauce thickens up too much.
At this point you can enjoy your pasta a couple ways:
1) Heat the mixture in the pot and serve immediately.
2) Pour the mixture into a casserole dish, top with breadcrumbs, and bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.
For my first trial, I baked it in the oven and for the second trial I enjoyed it heated up straight from the pot without baking. I think I like it straight from the pot because it isn’t as thick and heavy as the casserole.
If baking in the oven, add on your breadcrumbs.
After, 20-25 minutes you have a fun B’nut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze that will serve 3-4 people for a main course.
If you serve it straight from the pot, the great thing is that you can make only as much as you want. If you only want 1 serving of pasta, you can add as much sauce as you need and then store the rest in the fridge. I’m not sure how long the sauce keeps in the fridge (3-4 days would be my guess), but I’m sure the sauce recipe can also be halved too!
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Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze: Two Ways
Butternut Squash idea from Lou. Cheese sauce adapted from my Mac ‘n Cheeze II.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped (yields: 3.5 cups raw)
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened + unflavoured soy milk), or more to thin out
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
- 6-7 tbsp Nutritional yeast (provides the cheesy consistency)
- 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp or a bit more of dried Italian seasoning
- 1/4-1/2 tsp Tumeric powder, optional (gives the orangey colour)
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4-1/2 tsp Paprika + more to season
- Your pasta of choice (I used ~450 grams/4.5 cups dry penne for the casserole) + mix-ins
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet. In a bowl, season chopped squash with some oil (~1 tsp) and kosher salt (couple pinches) and stir. Add to baking sheet and roast in oven for 40 minutes, flipping once half way through baking.
2. If making the baked casserole: Process 1 slice of bread + 1 tbsp Earth balance until crumbs form in a food processor. Set aside. If you plan on enjoying it straight from the pot you can skip this step.
3. Assemble your cheeze sauce ingredients (cashews, non-dairy milk, garlic, lemon, salt, nutritional yeast, pepper, mustard, seasonings) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth. Leave the sauce in the processor as you will be adding the squash.
4. Cook your pasta according to package directions. When squash is finished roasting, add it to the food processor and blend it with the cheese sauce until smooth. Adjust to taste. The sauce will thicken up with time. If at any point the sauce becomes too thick, you can add a bit of milk to thin it out.
5. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water. Now add the pasta back into the same pot and add your desired amount of cheeze sauce on top. Stir well. Add in any desired mix-ins like peas or broccoli. You can either heat this up in the pot, or pour it into a casserole dish (I used a 4 cup dish), sprinkle on breadcrumbs + paprika, and bake it at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. The casserole will serve about 4 people if you use 450 grams dry macaroni or penne. Store any leftover sauce in the fridge and use within a few days.
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The first trial I made came out just OK (I think I used too much lemon juice and cashews), but Eric and I both enjoyed the second trial! You can’t really detect the butternut squash, but it does provide a nice flavour overall and I love getting in another vegetable. For the second trial, I reduced the lemon, cut the cashews in half, and adjusted the rest of my cheeze sauce ingredients.
I encourage you to adjust the sauce to your own taste buds because I find that vegan cheeze sauces are such a ‘personal preference’ kinda thing!
The casserole is fun, but I think for simplicity sake, I prefer heating it up in a pot and enjoying it immediately. I’m an instant gratification kinda gal when it comes to pasta.
Reno Talk
Thank you for your nice comments and suggestions on my home reno before and after post. :) A couple readers suggested that the living room would look great with Navy paint and I think that is a lovely idea! Navy and orange go together really nicely. I talked to Eric about it and he loved the idea too. I think we might use Navy walls with white trim for the living room. I have a feeling it might be tough to pick a shade of navy though. If anyone out there has a shade of navy paint they enjoy, I would love your suggestions!
Here are a few pictures I found for inspiration:
We are also considering leaving the crown molding intact and painting over it + shaving the popcorn. We’ll have to see how it goes!
Oh, and I fell in love this this colour for our bathroom…it is called Lavender Lace by Para Paint.
I love girly looking bathrooms. I haven’t mentioned this paint idea to Eric yet…It might have to be one of those ‘Surprise! Look what I did while you were at work today!’ kinda jobs. ;)
PS- I am going through cupcake withdrawal today.
Your dishes are gorgeous! The color is just so bright and cheery. Where did you get them? All I have (for now) is hand-me-down plain dishes.
This recipe looks delicious too. Now if only I can convince my boyfriend to try it…
I love the idea of navy and orange!
However, don’t go too dark – my room used to be navy and I had huge windows so it worked well with the sun, but if it’s took dark it may be depressing, especially next to your orange!
I vote the second or third navy pictures your posted – the first one I think is too dark.
Just something to think about!
Also, I agree with the lavender colour – it just makes you feel so clean and shiny!
Seriously that dish looks delicious! Yet another Oh She Glows recipe to add to the “Must Try” list! Yum!
AHHH!! I’ve been making a pasta-butternut squash casserole that my M-I-L sent me the recipe from for one of her Weight Watchers files, and while it’s one of my favorite dishes (I swapped out all of the gross, plasticky, fat-free ingredients for the real deal, although I kept the whole wheat pasta), I’ve never even thought to include mashed squash in regular mac n cheese! You’re a genius! I wonder how it would be with a little bit of curry powder and cumin added… if I have the ingredients at home, I’ll try to find out!
I love butternut squash AND mac n’ cheese! Yum!
And I love the navy paint idea!
Yum!! Butternut squash mac n cheese is an amazing idea, I can just imagine how delicious that would have tasted :)
WOW, I have been seeing alternative Mac n Cheese recipes pop up everywhere and this one definitely seems worth trying! How does the taste match up to regular mac n cheese?
We do find it very similar as a cross between an alfredo and mac n cheese sauce. My mom likes it better than her own mac and cheese casserole!
It is totally a personal preference thing though. Ive tried many vegan mac and cheeze recipes that I found were off. I think it is good to add the ingredients slowly and keep tasting until you find something that works for you taste buds!
This recipe above is my favourite so far.
I’m making this tonight! I’ve had a butternut squash sitting on my counter for a couple weeks just begging to be used. Here’s my recipe! Thanks!
I have a great shade of navy on our master walls – I will take pictures and email you it later!
I think the lighter navy blues would be better for the room, depending on the size. Especially, if you live in a climate that has a lot of grey days…it may make you feel hemmed in and claustrophobic, you know? A lighter shade may brighten it up and make it look bigger, too. Dark shades SHRINK a room like nothing else. I love the home renos you have done so far, so I’m sure the living room will look equally fantastic, regardless.
What an amazing way to use butternut squash–I have to try this!
What a great idea! Love the navy for the living room. I would just suggest for going with something on the lighter end of navy, because at night it will seem even darker than you wanted, plus it’ll make the room look smaller the lighter you go.
Thanks for posting a butternut recipe. I love butternut squash but I’m always at a loss for how to prepare it. BTW, I love your blue baking dish!!! Where is this from?
thanks! its from epicure selections http://www.epicureselections.com/en/
I have all the ingredients, and have been staring at them for a week just wondering how I should begin to put it all together. This looks like the place to start fo’ sho’! Thank you! : )
This looks amazing. I’ve never tried butternut squash but I’ve heard good things!
I loveee the dishes you used for the mac n cheeze! Such a pretty color! Where did you get them, they are gorgeous!
Thanks! Blue bowl is from Pier 1 and the blue casserole is from Epicure Selections.
I always roast the butternut squash in it’s skin, it’s then really easy to remove as it seems to fall away from the skin. Saves all the chopping and peeling :-)
P.S. Love the second colour blue – it’s really energising.
Ohh – this looks awesome!
As soon as I get some nutritional yeast, cashews and a butternut squash I am going to make this recipe. It looks great! I love that you guys go with bold paint colors.
I have cashews soaking and butternut squash to use up…this recipe was made for me today!! Is the cashew sauce you gave the one with the cashews already reduced? Or did you end up halving the amount of cashews from that recipe?
The one I posted is the amount I used for trial 2 (3/4 cups) sorry for the confusion!
That looks absolutely delicious! I keep meaning to buy squash to make a recipe I love from The Kind Diet, but now I think I’ll buy even more and try this one out too :)
And such a nice colour for the bathroom- I like girly bathrooms too! The boyfriend….not such a fan of them!