Sunday, October 19, 2008

Butternut Squash Baked Macaroni and Cheese



Well Fall is officially here and I'm so excited! Fall is my all time favorite season and it's when I go crazy stocking up on pumpkin spice coffee, canned pumpkin, and an absurd amount of baking supplies. I have so many pumpkin recipes I can not wait to try so look out in the months ahead.



Up until today, I have never cooked or baked anything using butternut squash. I don't know why, they are so amazingly good.

These squash are also called butternut pumpkins and actually have the same sweet, nutty taste as regular pumpkins. They are both part of the squash family so there are a lot of similarities and can be used interchangeably. And did you know that squash are considered a power food because they are high in fiber, vitamin A, and especially beta carotene?
So in case you haven't tried it before, you must! Anyway, on with the recipe...





I have been craving something really special and creamy using the squash and the fresh ricotta I picked up at Trader Joe's last week. It came down to either lasagna or risotto. But then somehow I found this mac-and-cheese recipe and it won!

I cut the recipe in half and we still had a ton left over. Also, I only used the butternut squash, no acorn. Oh and if you can't find amaretto cookies you can use Italian almond cookies or biscotti-that's what I used.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yum, looks so good! I already made bnut squash ravioli and lasagna, now I'll have to try this!

Desiree said...

Hey Ab! thanks! Yeah I want to make the lasagna too and the ravioli..i love this squash now!

Mr. and Mrs. B said...

oh my goodness! thinks looks amazing desiree!!!
i am most definitely going to be trying it...sneak a little something healthy into my girls diets ;)
i've been thinking about you a lot lately and hoping you're well. praying for your journey friend ((hugs))
~kristen

Desiree said...

Thanks Kristen, I really appreciate your prayers...it means a lot. You'll have to let me know how your girls liked this. I know I can't wait to make it again!