Ali Cooks: Pumpkin Maple Mac & Cheese

YAY getting back to cooking!

 

Yay for fall and legitimately using pumpkin!  (The 'yay' for fall is half-hearted because it means cold weather.  The 'yay' for pumpkin is wholeheartedly a 'YAY!')

 

Oh yeah, and YAY for Sunday dinner!

 

Yep, Brian, some awesome cohort peeps, and myself ate dinner together on a Sunday--just like old times back in Texas!  I loved it so much.  With Food Network on in the background and Apples to Apples to follow.  This shall be happening again.  YES.

 

But seriously, I've been super-busy.  Pretty stressed.  Overwhelmed, over-anxious, and in much need of some kitchen time.  Sunday happened, and I'm happier for it.  (AND I baked tonight--another blog post coming soon!)

 

The mac and cheese was not what I anticipated at all though.  I'm going to recommend you give it a shot, but it could do with much more spice and cheese.  The original recipe also called for ale, so that may have been the flavor enhancer we needed--who knows.

 

Oh yeah--and when it says to bake it for a certain amount of time, you should probably trust the recipe and leave it in the oven for that long.  Our mac was only mildly warm after its trip to the oven.

 

Notice my sprinkling of bread crumbs that I added on top!  That was all me!

 

(PS--We didn't use ale in the recipe because Indiana is silly and won't sell alcohol on Sundays.  Ah well.  We'll try ale in our mac and cheese some other time....)

 

 

Pumpkin Maple Mac & Cheese

*Adapted from TheFigTreeBlog.com

 

Ingredients:

1 pound whole wheat pasta (macaroni or penne)

4 tbs unsalted butter

3 slightly rounded tbs flour

2 tbs maple syrup

~2 cups milk

~2 'pinches' ground cloves

1 tsp ground mustard

~1 'pinch' red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

salt/pepper to taste

1 small can pumpkin puree (~14 oz)

2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

A few pieces of bread

Paprika

Thyme

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and cook the pasta to al dente.  Drain and set aside.

 

Melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in flour, avoiding lumps.  Cook for approximately one minute.  Whisk in maple syrup and milk.  Season with cloves or allspice, mustard, cayenne and the nutmeg. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow the mixture to cook on medium heat until the sauce leaves a thick coat on the back of a spoon (about 3 minutes).

 

Whisk in the pumpkin puree.  Stir in the cheddar cheese, until melted.  Pour the pasta and sauce together in the same pot and stir.  Move the mac and cheese to a 9X9 baking dish and rip pieces of the bread to top the pasta.  Dust tops lightly with paprika.

 

Bake for 15 minutes and/or broil to allow the top to get brown and bubbly.  When finished cooking, sprinkle thyme over the top. 

 

 Serve and enjoy!