Day 60 -- Another New Dish!

The second of my two new recipes this weekend is from the Low Fat Vegan Chef blogsite.  I've had a butternut squash sitting around for a couple weeks and it's time to use it!  This is an unusual dish for me because it uses pasta, something I havent eaten much of lately.  But I have some whole-wheat rotini that I can use instead of the elbow macaroni.  Of course, I've removed the added oil from this recipe and I cut it in half, since pasta is always better fresh.  If you want to see the original recipe, click this link.

Vegan Baked Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

from Comfort Foods From Around The World   Serves 6

½ medium butternut squash (or 1 2/3 cups cooked and mashed)

16 oz package elbow macaroni or spirals

1/4-1/2 tsp. salt (*optional for pasta)

1/2-3/4 cup vegetable broth (for cooking)

1 large onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tsp. brown rice miso (use more if using shiro/white/yellow miso)

3 cups almond milk (unsweetened original)

2 tbsp. flour or cornstarch

3/4-cup nutritional yeast flakes

1/4-1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2-1 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2-3/4 tsp. salt (*optional for sauce)

Topping:

2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (or GF)

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. smoked paprika

1. Peel and cube the butternut squash and bring to a boil and steam just until soft. Alternatively you can cook in a pressure cooker at high pressure for 5-7 minutes. Drain well. (Tip, if your squash is hard to peel or cut, pop it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes to soften the skin to make it easier to slice.) Measure out 1 2/3 cup of mashed squash and set aside.

2. In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil and then add salt if desired. Add pasta and cook just before tender. Generally it’s about 5 minutes. Drain well in a colander and rinse in cold water. (Do not overcook the pasta.)

3. Preheat oven to 350 F/ 177 C.

4. In a large saucepan heat vegetable broth over medium heat and add the onions. Cook for 5-6 minutes until tender adding broth when needed to prevent burning.

5. Add cooked onions and any remaining broth from pan into Vitamix or food processor, add mashed squash and miso and blend until combined. Set aside

6. In the same large saucepan add 1 cup of the almond milk and sprinkle 1 tbsp. of the flour or cornstarch when hot and whisk in. Add the remaining 2 cups of milk and sprinkle in another tbsp. of flour. Whisk this together fast. It’s ok if there are a few small bits of flour still.

7. Cook the sauce for a minute or two until hot and quickly add the squash mixture and whisk in. Heat through another minute or two and then add the nutritional yeast and whisk in. Turn off heat and add remaining seasonings starting with the lower amounts. Taste test and add additional seasonings to your liking.

8. Add drained pasta to sauce pot and stir to coat. Spread out in a casserole dish. (If you want to add some vegan cheese like Daiya cheese you would layer some in now and mix it in, but I don’t feel the need to add it personally.) Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over top. Sprinkle basil, oregano and paprika to cover.

9. Bake for 20-30 minutes just until pasta is tender. (20 minutes if you slightly overcooked your pasta, 30 minutes 

10. Serve with steamed broccoli or a green salad.

Additional Tips:

To save time you can use frozen cubed butternut squash and then cook it and mash it, or use canned butternut squash. Both are sold at health food stores in North America.

Smoked paprika (also called Spanish Paprika) is much more flavourful than traditional paprika, it lends a nice smokey flavor to this cheesy sauce. McCormick makes one, or you can get it at some ethnic or Indian markets.

To reheat you will want to either microwave it and then toast it in the oven or toaster oven to crisp up the breadcrumbs again, or just reheat in the oven until warm.

ETA:  Day 65:  I finally got around to making this and it was really pretty good.  The sauce has the consistency of real cheese sauce and has a very mild, cheese-like flavor.  If I didn't know it was butternut squash, I would never have known it wasn's cheese!  However, if you like your mac and cheese made with sharp cheddar cheese and heavy cream, his won't satisfy.  This would be really good with brocolli baked into it.  I added some green onion.