Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese Recipe
A cozy and delicious mac and cheese with butternut mixed through for all the Fall vibes. Super cheesy and creamy with a buttery, herby panko crumb topping.Hot tip to save time: Prepare the butternut up to 3 days in advance and keep in the fridge.
Servings: 4 - 6 people
Ingredients
Pasta and butternut
- 1 large butternut (mine weighed 1.15kg)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 280 grams pasta
- 1 tablespoon butter
For the topping
- 1.5 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 60 grams butter, melted
- 20 grams parmesan, finely grated
- Zest of a lemon
- 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves, finely chopped
For the sauce
- 70 grams butter
- 50 grams flour (about 4 tbsp)
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 300 grams grated cheese, see notes below
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1.5 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 tablespoons rosemary leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Instructions
Prepare the butternut
- Pre-heat your oven to 425f (220c).
- Cut the butternut up into bite size pieces (you should have about 700 grams in finished cubed pieces). Toss with the olive oil and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Roast in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes. You want the edges to be just starting to char (brings some extra flavor!) Take out then turn the oven down to 350f.
- Blend the butternut into a puree with ½ cup water (or milk) in a food processor or with a stick blender and set aside
- Alternatively leave the roasted pieces whole and mix them though gently as the very last step before pouring into the baking dish!
Boil the pasta
- While the butternut is roasting, boil your pasta in well salted boiling water, undercooking by 2 minutes from package directions.
- Drain and toss with 1 tablespoon of butter (keeps it from overcooking). Doesn't matter if it gets cold.
Make the topping
- Also while butternut is roasting, melt the butter and mix with the panko, lemon zest and rosemary.
- Mix through the parmesan and set aside.
Make the sauce and assemble
- Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over a medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for a minute.
- Lower the heat slightly and add the milk in a slow stream, whisking the whole time making sure you get all the flour mixture from the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Add the garlic to the milk.
- Cook for a few minutes until it thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Keep scraping the bottom so the flour doesn't settle.
- Lower the heat right down and add the cheese in three lots, whisking well and letting it melt in between each addition.
- If there are still some small chunks not melted in, it's fine!
- Take off the heat and whisk in the tomato paste, rosemary, butternut mixture, salt and pepper.
- Mix the cooked pasta through and pour into your baking dish (I used a 30cm x 21cm rectangular dish) and top with the panko crumb mixture.
- Bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes until nice and golden. Don't bake it any longer than that as you don't want to overcook the pasta and dry out the sauce.
- Leave it to sit for 5 - 10 mins before serving.
Notes
PASTA - I used pasta curls as they have a bit more texture than standard macaroni or elbows. Use whatever pasta shape you like.
CHEESE - I use a combination in a cheese sauce. I used 150 grams gruyere, 100 grams mozzarella and 50 grams parmesan. You could use all 300 grams of a basic cheddar, anything will work. DON'T use pre-shredded cheese.
BUTTERNUT - As an alternative method you could keep the roasted pieces whole and mix them through at the very last step. To save time the butternut could be roasted ahead.