Autumn Macaroni and Cheese: Mommy's Little Secret

Red Kuri Squash. Ever heard of it? Hey you super foodie in the back, calm your nerves, we know you know! I've heard of it, but honestly never even crossed my mind to cook with it. When I see these lil pumpkin look-a-likes, I thought of them as just that- baby pumpkins. Some places even paint faces on them and I always thought of them as decoration. Red Kuri Squash or Rote Hokkaido as it's called here in Germany is a winter squash that's available year-around. The outside should be slightly rough not shiny to indicate its ripeness. 

I visited fellow expatriate in Europe, Spicie Foodie and she inspired me to find great potential for this squash. Her  addiction...erm..love for this lovely winter squash literally made my mouth water. Then the recipe she produced made me want to try this even more! Suddenly I had an awesome idea looking at how the pasta sauce cling beautifully to the spiral pasta.....MAC N CHEESE! My 4 year-old LOVES mac n cheese. He'll eat mac n cheese over a candy bar.  He'll eat mac n cheese over meeting his fave superhero Ben 10, he'll choose mac n cheese over hanging out with ME. Haha. So after reading about the delicate flavor and slight nuttiness of this squash, I thought of a mac n cheese recipe Ellie Krieger did with frozen butternut squash puree as the base. So with that in mind, I had the perfect recipe in mind.

Then Wednesday morning, my 4 year-old woke up with a very swollen face. I screamed! I was in such shock. The day before some kid at his kindergarten pushed him and his face had a rash and his mouth was cut. So I wasn't sure if this child pushed him into something that he is potentially allergic to, but I for sure freaked out! After rushing him to the doctor and the doctor performing a bunch of tests, we were told he was OK. Just to keep an eye on him and he'll call back with the lab results. He was OK and his urine samples came back negative for potential kidney issues, so to celebrate and comfort my lil man, I decided to make the mac n cheese for him that day instead during the weekend. 

While researching this squash, I did not find much about how to prep it. I read that you can just roast it for 45 minutes then remove the seeds. I, of course did it the hard way. But, I am still learning about food, and I tend to like to do things the slow way especially for others who are interested!

Autumn 3 Cheese Macaroni

Ingredients

For Squash Puree:

1 medium red Kuri squash

3 T olive oil

Coarse Salt and Pepper

1 T Heavy Cream

For Macaroni and Cheese

3/4 pound of cavatappi noodles or any noodles of you choice. In Germany they're called Cellatani

1 1/4 cups of heavy cream 

Squash Puree (recipe above) or 1 pack of frozen butternut squash (or any winter squash)

3/4 cup grated smoked Gouda cheese, packed lightly

1/2 cup grated Monterrey jack cheese, packed lightly

1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese

1 or 1 1/2 t kosher salt

Pepper

1/4 - 1/2 t hot sauce

1 t ground mustard

For topping

1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1/2 cup Japanese Panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Wash the squash well, then remove stem. Cut in half carefully using a bread knife or knife with ridges. I always find those the easiest when dealing with squash. Again, you can buy any pre-cut winter squash or frozen purees!

Remove seeds with a spoon.

Cut squash into 4 pieces for easy peeling. Peel the skin using a potato peeler or paring knife for this. 

Using a all-purpose of chef's knife, chop squash into 1 inch pieces. Add to a baking sheet then add olive oil, salt and pepper. Add squash to preheated oven. 

Roast for about 40 minutes stirring halfway through.

Put roasted squash into a bowl. Refrain from munching on them. With a potato masher, smush these babies like crazy until there's no chunks left. 

Add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream for a touch of creaminess. Again, refrain from munching!  Set aside. 

Increase oven temperature to 375F

Spray a 10 by 15 baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

In a large pot, bring water to boil. Add noodles and cook until just al dente, about 9 to 10 minutes. Drain, then set aside.

In another pan, add heavy cream, squash puree. Turn heat on medium. Stir together until well mixed.

Heat until the mixture is about to boil. A nice simmer is what you're looking for.

Remove pot from heat, then add cheeses, ground mustard, salt and pepper, and hot sauce, and stir well until combined.

Add noodles and toss until combined.

Add to prepared baking dish. Combine Pecorino Romano and Japanese bread crumbs in a small bowl. 

Sprinkle evenly on top of the noodles.

Put into oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Allow to rest 5 minutes after removing from oven and voila! 

My son LOVED this. My macaroni and cheese snob of a husband? LOVED this! My picky Ninja Baby? Ate all of mine! So yeah, my son couldn't tell there was anything squash in this and I am not telling him until he's 18 years old! The slightly salty crunchiness of the cheese and bread crumb topping made this shine. This is most certainly a must try.