Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese...wait what?

I’m obsessed with seasonal things. I’m pretty sure I got it from my mom (who takes pride in decorating the house for every little holiday). This year instead of placing my entire focus on pumpkin, I found myself foodgawkering butternut squash. Then I found this recipe for butternut squash mac n chz, on Angela’s delicious blog. I’ve made countless recipes from this blog, but sometimes the vegan substitutions intimidate me a little (I just don’t trust myself with cashews and nutritional yeast). So after some more foodgawering I came across this recipe and knew I had to try it.

Nick was a hundred percent on board. He came over my place Thursday night to make it with me. I bought a 5+ lb butternut squash from the strip (Note:  I think I got 8 cups of squash at least out of it… the recipe only called for 2). We used almond milk instead of regular milk because it’s what I had (Nick and Ryan were sure they could taste it, unfortunately. I hadn’t thought the difference would be that noticeable). The rest of the ingredients were things we had on hand:

Since the squash I got was so big, I roasted the part of it that I wasn't using for the recipe:.

Making the squash puree ended up being easier than roasting it. I managed not to cut a finger off cubing it, but I easily could have (so if you make this please be careful!). Then I boiled water, and tossed the pieces in until they were tender. Next, we tossed the it all in the magic bullet and pureed it. (Note: Don't forget to add the veggie broth before processing it- Nick kindly reminded me that I was on crack and added it himself- and the mixture got so much smoother).

Nick took care of the next few steps. He boiled the pasta (as you normally would) and set it aside. Then he combined the rest of the ingredients in the pot, adding the cheese last.

And finally we sat down to enjoy with Alyssa!

Unfortunately, it didn't taste quite as amazing as it looks. Like I mentioned earlier, the almond milk wasn't a great choice. We also didn't add quite enough salt. But with the help of some Parmesan cheese, we all finished our bowls. I'm excited to polish over the left overs this week, even if no one else was begging to take some home.

But, as my friends reminded me, not every recipe can be amazing. I may try to make it again in the future with some improvements. 

After we finished the mac, we moved on to bigger and better things! But that's for the next post so stay tuned!