Fall Mac n' Cheese Bake
Fall is my favorite season! While we don’t really get much of actual fall weather here in San Diego, There is nothing that stops me from still joining in on all the fall festivities in making fall inspired recipes. I am totally in love with every type of squash out there! Luckily the San Diego farmers markets have SO many squash varieties from traditional pumpkin & butternut squash to delicata & kabocha squash. So its time to make some squash “cheese” sauce…
Kabocha squash is one of my favorite squash varieties! It is creamy, slightly sweet and SO DELICIOUS. It has a slight starchiness to it like a potato but flavor similar to pumpkin. If you cannot get your hands on one, you can use butternut squash instead! I decided to add broccoli into the mix & it was a great decision. I always see other genius people putting broccoli into their Mac n cheese and I was at first skeptical…but once I tired it, I immediately understood the method to their madness.
PREP TIME
8min
COOK TIME
12min
TOTAL TIME
20min
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
- 1 pound pasta (any kind)
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 cups chopped (frozen) broccoli
For the sauce
- 2 cups steamed kabocha squash or butternut squash
- 1/3 cup raw cashews (soaked over night in filtered water or for at least 3 hours)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any plant based milk)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
EQUIPMENT
Instructions
vIDEO INSTRUCTIONS
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?
Come hang out on Instagram and ask me all your questions.
You can also go ahead and send me an email at fuelednaturally@gmail.com.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Chop kabocha squash into cubes and carefully cut off the skin. Place squash cubes in a steamer and steam for 10 minutes or until squash is soft and tender.
- In a large pot boil water, add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package of pasta.
- In a blender combine steamed kabocha squash, cashews, garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, water, almond milk, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
- In a medium sized bowl place frozen broccoli and add 1 cup of water or enough water to cover all the broccoli. Place broccoli in the microwave for 2 minutes. The goal is to thaw the broccoli…it will continue to cook in the oven. (If you’re using fresh broccoli you can skip this step.)
- Once pasta noodles are cooked, sauce is ready and the broccoli is thawed…In a large bowl, combine all three items and mix well until all the noodles are coated with the sauce.
- Pour into a baking dish and sprinkle the bread crumbs over. Place in the oven and let bake for 12-15 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden.
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?
Come hang out on Instagram and ask me all your questions.
You can also go ahead and send me an email at feel free to email me at fuelednaturally@gmail.com.
