Bacon Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
Elbow macaroni pasta, crispy bacon, and fried sage in a creamy butternut squash an cheddar cheese sauce, topped with crunchy pretzel breadcrumbs.
Servings: 12
Calories: 508kcal
Cost: $5.95
Ingredients
- 1 squash about 1 ½ pounds in weight
- 1 lb elbow macaroni about 4 cups dry
- ½ lb bacon sliced into one inch strips
- 3 tablespoon butter plus more for squash
- 5-10 sage leaves
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- 1 ½ cup milk
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese or other melting cheese
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup pretzels crushed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut squash in half, longways and scoop out seeds.
- Drizzle squash halves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until fork tender. Set aside to cooled enough to handle.
- Boil pasta in salted water until two minutes short of al dente, according to pasta package instructions, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- Fry bacon until crispy, drain on paper towels and set aside.
- Crush pretzels in a plastic zip lock bag using a rolling pin until they resemble breadcrumbs.
- In the same pot that the pasta was boiled in fry the sage leaves in butter on medium high heat until fried and crispy, remove the leaves.
- Add flour to the butter that the sage was fried in and whisk until thick paste, or roux, has formed.
- Pour in chicken stock, whisk, and simmer until thickened and flour taste is no longer present, about 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in the milk.
- Scoop the soft, cooked flesh out of the roasted squash and add to the pot of stock mixture.
- Use an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender or food processor and blend/pulse on medium speed until smooth.
- Fold in the shredded cheese and cream cheese and stir on low heat until smooth.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Fold in the cooked macaroni pasta and bacon.
- Pour into a 13x9 inch, or similarly sized casserole dish.
- Top with fried sage and crushed pretzel breadcrumbs.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
- It's advised to use dry pasta, and only cook it a couple of minutes below al dente.
- If you use a combination of gruyere with the cheddar, or other smooth melting cheese, you may not need to use all of the cream cheese, or possibly omit it all together.
- Cook the bacon as crispy as possible without burning it, so that it doesn't become soggy in the butternut squash mac and cheese casserole.
Nutrition
Calories: 508kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 325mg | Potassium: 423mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 7016IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 224mg | Iron: 2mg