Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

By 965koit on September 4, 2017

Want to try something new for dinner?! Try this butternut squash mac and cheese with its creamy smoked cheddar, smokey bacon and velvety butternut squash! It’s something you’ll be cooking a lot! 

Ingredients

• 12 ounces dried rigatoni
• 1 1/2 pounds of butternut squash (cut into chunks-peeled and seeded)
• 2 3/4 cups of milk
• 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 8 ounces of smoked Gruyere cheese (shredded)
• 8 slices of bacon
• 2 small sweet onions (cut into chunks)
• 3 ounces of sourdough bread
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter
• fresh flat-leaf italian parsley

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Lightly butter a 3-quart baking dish-set aside.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, transfer to large bowl.
4. In a large saucepan combine the squash and 2 1/2 cups of milk over medium-high heat. Bring to boiling and reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 18 to 20 minutes. 
5. Stir together remaining 1/4 cup of milk and flour-stir into squash mixture.
6. Bring to boiling-cook until thickened (2 to 3 mintues). Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the Gruyere until melted-keep warm.
7. In a large skillet cook bacon until crisp-drain on paper towels.Crumble and set aside.
8. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings. Return skillet to the heat.
9. Add onions to skillet, cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
10. Uncover and increase heat to hight. Cook 4 to 6 minutes more, stirring, until onions are goldent.
11. Add squash-cheese mixture, onions, and bacon to the bowl with pasta. Toss well to combine and transfer to prepared baking dish.
12. Place bread in a food proecessor and pulse with 2 or 3 on/off turns to form large coarse crumbs.
13. Transfer to small bowl-mix with melted butter.
14. Sprinkle remaining Gruyere and the bread crumbs over pasta mixture. 
15. Bake for about 14 to 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, and then sprinkle with parsley.