Baked pumpkin mac and cheese is a healthy version of a classic dish. Cute tubini pasta tossed with insanely creamy and cheesy pumpkin sauce and topped with crispy breadcrumbs makes a lovely comfort meal. Enjoy it either for lunch or dinner, it is a great takeaway, too.
Creamy baked pumpkin mac and cheese is an all-time classic dish with a twist. I found this recipe when scrolling on Instagram and from there it brought me to John’s blog. I found the recipe simply amazing. Like always, I didn’t have or couldn’t find everything that the recipe required. Therefore, I made some little changes. The final result was full of flavour and it just made my day.
We all know mac and cheese. This rich and delicious classic dish is all about the creamy sauce and cheesy cheese. Usually, a mac and cheese recipe is pretty straightforward; pasta with bechamel sauce ( to which you add a non-definable amount of cheese) with some more cheese sprinkled on top.
The classic casserole is so delicious but at the same time, so heavy or too “rich” as John would say. But, how to make a mac and cheese casserole healthier without losing the cheesy and creamy sauce? Simple, do it with pumpkin. There is still some cheese involved but in reduced amounts. Wink.
Give a healthy upgrade to the classic mac and cheese casserole and do it with pumpkin! Pumpkin is the perfect ingredient for this dish. This time I picked Nutmeg pumpkin. The nutmeg pumpkin has a lovely nutty note, a bright yellow-orange colour and is easy to handle.
This pumpkin sauce is insanely delicious, creamy, rich and smooth. And the best thing is that with this sauce you can eat a second portion of the baked pumpkin mac and cheese and won’t feel guilty about it. Hehehe.
In addition, take advantage of the wonderful autumn time and enjoy creating pumpkin recipes; for instance, this couscous stuffed Hokkaido pumpkin, this festive Hasselback butternut squash or this pumpkin feta cheese flammkuchen. I love pumpkins. Pick your pumpkin and make your favourite pumpkin dish.
Besides the creamy sauce, I added breadcrumbs as a topping. Shortly toast the breadcrumbs with some olive oil and chopped rosemary and you’ll have a wonderful topping, with an intensive flavour.
Ingredients for 4 portions of baked pumpkin mac and cheese:
- 600-700 g nutmeg pumpkin
- olive oil
- 1 red onion
- 3 garlic cloves (skin on)
- a piece of ginger
- 100 ml vegetable stock
- salt and pepper
- 50 ml hazelnut milk
- 350 g tubini pasta (or any other such as fusilli, penne or cavatappi)
- 100 g grated cheese
- 3 Tbsp of breadcrumbs
- fresh rosemary
Start with making the pumpkin sauce. Preheat the oven to 200° C. Wash and cut the pumpkin in half. Then, scoop out all the seeds and strings and cut the pumpkin into small cubes. Place them onto a baking dish lined with parchment paper and add the roughly chopped onion and garlic (unpeeled). Drizzle with some olive oil and put in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until tender.
In the meantime, prepare the breadcrumbs. In a smaller pan, drizzle some olive oil, add the breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt. Toast for a couple of minutes and then set aside.
Once the pumpkin is tender, transfer it to a container and add the onion, chopped ginger and peeled garlic. Blend, using an immersion blender or a blender. Then, pour in the vegetable stock and milk and blend for a couple of seconds longer. Stir a third of the cheese in it and set aside. Keep the oven on.
Furthermore, cook the pasta. Boil some water, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta, but keep a couple of spoons of pasta water. Add the pumpkin sauce to the pasta, by keeping a couple of spoons of the sauce aside. Toss to combine.
Then, transfer the pasta into a baking dish, and top it with the remaining pumpkin sauce and cheese. Last but not least, generously sprinkle it with breadcrumbs and put it in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
Pour ¾ of the pumpkin sauce over the pasta and mix it. Then transfer the pasta into a baking dish, add the rest of the cheese and cover with the remaining pumpkin sauce. Before you put it to bake, sprinkle it with some breadcrumbs and put it in the oven and reduce the temperature to 180° C. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Finally, serve this fabulous baked pumpkin mac and cheese when still steamy and hot. If you like some tangy flavour, grate some fresh ginger on top. Pumpkin sauce and aromatic breadcrumbs make it very special and will make you ask for more.
Enjoy!
