Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese?

Image: Recipes Recommended/Lisa Schattenkirk

I found this recipe by accident. But, let's be honest, who wouldn't stop in their tracks when a staple dish like macaroni and cheese throws you a curve ball with butternut squash? Often I get distracted when I'm researching anything, and I promise I didn't mean to make this dish or any mac and cheese so soon. I was looking through a recent issue of Southern Cast Iron magazine, looking for Thanksgiving side dishes, and this delightful recipe halted me, and wouldn't let me continue my research. My first thoughts were, how much butternut squash? how is it cooked? does the squash overpower any other flavors? how is the the texture compared to other mac and cheeses I've made over the years? All of these thoughts cascaded in my brain and I neglected to notice a very important element, at least to me: this is a no-bake mac and cheese.

This dish not only is no-bake, but fast, relatively easy and definitely fun to make.

Lisa, my wife made the apt observation that oven space is the most coveted thing in kitchens across the country on Thanksgiving day. This dish not only is no-bake, but fast, relatively easy and definitely fun to make. Furthermore, more vegetables in your diet is never a bad thing.

Image: Recipes Recommended/Lisa Schattenkirk

Since this recipe was developed by a cast iron-centric magazine, there aren't a lot of pots and pans required. Besides cooking the pasta, you'll cook everything in one pot. How great is that? This recipe keeps getting better. During the 30 or so minutes it'll take you to make this whole dish (also a Thanksgiving plus), the only hard part might be preparing the butternut squash. If you haven't prepped a b-nut, you have to be super careful because those suckers can be slippery and you want to make sure you don't slip while you're cutting them. The quick explanation is to cut them lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and then using a vegetable peeler, remove the thick skin. If you do it once, you'll never forget and do it the same way every time.

Because one of our missions is to drill down on how the recipes we make work, I want to say that I didn't really care for the bacon. In my experience, there's plenty of times when rendering bacon to use the fat to cook other ingredients is appropriate. Beans and greens are a good candidates because those ingredients really benefit from the rich flavor of bacon drippings. In this case, the fat is used to brown panko breadcrumbs, to be sprinkled on at the end. This and most other mac and cheeses aren't delicate things, they're heavy and rich, and this one has a few strong, competing flavors, including two cheeses, cream and of course, the butternut. The crispy bacon, if even it, could be added by itself, while butter could be used for the panko instead of the fat. You can always save bacon drippings for future use, and there are plenty of stovetop bacon fat containers you can find online. I have one myself. But if you never got off that bacon train from a few years ago, and get excited whenever bacon shows up, please don't let my preferences dissuade you.

Image: Recipes Recommended/Lisa Schattenkirk

Texturally, squash can be a little fibrous, and I tend to blend it to make soups and sometimes purees (used to make baby food). It is a great and forgiving ingredient, which also takes seasoning very well. I had never considered incorporating it into something like a mac and cheese. I first thought that there may be little diced chunks of squash, but we simmer it in half-and-half for 20 minutes until tender, and then process in a blender. To me, it's so genius. Although, this technique isn't new, using it as a base for anything other than a soup, or eating it as is, is wonderful. I recommend tasting at this point, and then again once you melt in the cheese you use. It's amazing how these elements pair. If you're familiar with most mac and cheese recipes, you usually melt cheese in a milk + roux combination, which, effectively is a Mornay sauce. The squash acts in part as the thickener, also. So wild.

What I struggled with, while getting to be a decent home cook, were some techniques and steps which most people take for granted, and I just didn't understand. For instance, when you bake a mac and cheese with breadcrumbs on top, if you melt butter and mix in the breadcrumbs, they don't burn, but stay crispy. I served my fair share of mac and cheeses with a charred top. Again, this no-bake recipe is friendly for your Holiday kitchen, it's also great for those who want an easy-to-follow recipe with little to no tricky steps. So how does butternut squash taste in this dish? Surprisingly mild, and nutty. The texture is smoother and less gluey as other similar dishes can get. I love it, and will continue to develop it more to my taste, and you better believe I'll be incorporating more winter squashes in the coming months.