Harvest Macaroni and Cheese

As I was reading magazines today at my hair appointment, I ran across a recipe of macaroni and cheese with squash. Yummy! I had two squash at home to use up

so I decided us them up in macaroni and cheese which actually sounded really good to me. So, I call this Harvest Macaroni and Cheese and also added mushrooms and green onions to it.

Makes 6

3 cups winter squash
8 ounces macaroni of choice or pasta, I used rotini

2 slices bacon
3 green onions, thinly sliced
8 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 ounces fontina cheese, shredded (1-1/2 cups)

1. Bake the squash in the oven. I will put the whole squash in the oven and let it bake in one piece, then remove it from the oven and let it cool. Depending on the size, it will take from 1-2 hours at 350 degrees. It's done when it feels soft to the touch. While it cools, prepare the rest of the recipe.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

3. Cook bacon in a pan until crisp.

4. Drain on paper towel. Once bacon has cooled, dice coarsely.

5. In the same pan, add the green onions and mushrooms. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

6. Sprinkle flour over mushroom mixture. Cook and stir 1 minute.

7. Add milk, salt and pepper.

8. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat.

9. The squash will be cool by now so cut the squash in half and scoop out the middle part of seeds and stringy stuff, discard.

10. Scoop out the rest of the squash and put in a bowl.

11. Add the squash into the mushroom mixture.

12. Stir into mixture until well dispersed.

13. Add pasta to mushroom/squash mixture. Gently fold to combine.

14. Transfer half of the pasta mixture to a 2 quart rectangular baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

15. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Add remaining pasta and cheese. Top with bacon.

16. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Comments

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of meatloaf . This must be meatloaf season. It was surprisingly similar to the Pioneer Woman's version who was also recently on. I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book, Food Matters . His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese! I must be doing something wrong. The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life. If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health. He tells his story in Food Matters and provides ...

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free. But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one. My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends. We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop. She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots. We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.) The views are always quite lovely, too. Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception. I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, t...

Waking Up in Vegas

and just like that...we were Waking Up in Vegas. Just like the Katy Perry song. We went to her 78th performance which was her second-to-last Las Vegas residency show entitled "Play". That was perfect for us because we went to Vegas simply to play. Her concert was a great finale for us because it was high energy and full of silliness, just the way Katy Perry is. And we were feeling it after three nights in Las Vegas. "Get up, and shake the gutter off your clothes now, That's what you get for waking up in Vegas". Here's what she said about her show: "I created this show after the birth of my daughter, Daisy Dove. When I met her, it was like all the love I was ever searching for finally showed up. This show is for everyone’s inner child and for the hope that maybe if we could all see life through the eyes of a child, we would be free. Because never forget, love is and will always be the key,” she said. We went to Vegas spur of the moment because Br...

Sylvia's Scenario

Search This Blog