It snowed last night! It got started pretty late over here, ended mid-morning, and most of the snow is now melted – but it still snowed! I know I complained like heck at the last (first!) snowfall, but now that it’s December and the holiday season it almost seems inappropriate to be decorating without snow. Sigh.

I made these pumpkin gnocchi quite awhile back and kept forgetting to post about them. I made a double batch and probably would’ve been fine with sticking to the recipe. They’re surprisingly filling and hearty. I used the recipe from this site pretty much word for word. They were fun and easy to make – who knew! I think I’ll be trying some more pasta recipes out soon.

P.S. Don’t skimp on the browned butter and sage. It brings the dish together completely!

This sunday was Thanksgiving dinner for the pep band and I cooked my way through the weekend in preparation! I saw a blog post for a healthy butternut squash mac n cheese recipe that I was super intrigued by, but wanted to step it up a notch for this dinner. I added lots of milk and some velveeta to keep it creamy and delicious. I basically hacked this recipe together from several existing recipes and added my own flair.

It came out tasting DELICIOUS. Here are some (now updated!) photos of the leftovers:

butternut squash mac ‘n cheese with bacon & caramelized onions
ingredients
1 box elbow macaroni (16 oz)
2-3 cups butternut squash puree
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika (regular is fine too)
5 tablespoons butter, split
2 medium-sized yellow onions, sliced thinly
6-7 slices of uncooked bacon
1 cup evaporated milk
8 oz Velveeta (I have never ever cooked with Velveeta before, and I’m a little embarassed it’s in this recipe, but it was perfect because I wanted the mac n cheese to stay creamy even when reheated)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup flour

to make butternut squash puree
Roast a whole butternut squash on baking tray at 400F (425F if it’s a big squash) for about an hour. Once cooled, cut lengthwise and scoop out seeds and stringy center. Scoop out flesh and reserve in bowl for mac n cheese recipe.

*This part can be totally skipped by using butternut squash puree but I live in a small town and grocery stores here didn’t have any. Roasting squash is pretty easy but just takes some time. Use canned if you’re short on time or have it on hand!

instructions

• Cook up bacon in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Once cooked, reserve bacon fat in pan.
• Over low heat, add sliced onions to the bacon fat and let caramelize for at least 30 minutes for the best flavor. Keep heat on low/low-medium.
• Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp butter. Add butternut squash puree, garlic powder, paprika, and salt. Cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes until fragrant and a slightly deeper color. Spoon puree into a bowl and set aside.
• In the same saucepan, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter on medium heat. Whisk in flour, cooking for 2 minutes while stirring constantly. Gradually stir in the milk, whisking until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Add Velveeta. Whisk until melted, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add butternut squash and evaporated milk to the saucepan, whisking to combine. Pour over macaroni in a large pot or bowl. Stir in onions. Top with bacon and serve!

*Notes: you can halve this for a normal sized recipe instead of GIANT. Also, if mixture seems too thick, adding a bit more evaporated milk at the end will thin it out . The sauce tends to thicken as it cools so that might help keep it creamy (especially for reheating – I added a ton of extra milk because I made this the night before I was serving it.)