Healthy Mac And Cheese With ButterNutSquash
Worried That your kids favourite Mac And Cheese is not so healthy for them but they ask you to make more.Dont panic there is a cheat trick you can make it healthier without creating too much awareness to kids thats there is more veggie than cheese.
To replicate cheese color and texture i used butternut squash here.Though its not completely cheese free to bring out the same taste like cheesy mac and cheese i used some sharp cheddar to bring out the flavour in less cheese.You can also try cheese like gruyere cheese or some intense flavour cheese.
For topping i used mozzarella for giving those Gooey texture kids like.
So happy to us as we succeed in giving veggies to kids and happy for them they can eat their fav mac and cheese frequently.
Ingredients :
For ButterNutSquash Puree:
ButterNutSquash - 1 medium cleaned , peeled and cut into cubes
Garlic cloves - 4
Coconut oil - 1/2 tsp
Italian Seasoning - 1/2 tsp
Chicken stock - 1 cup
Fat free milk / soy milk / almond milk (all unflavored) - 1 cup
Salt - not so much keep it less in sauce
Garlic cloves - 4
Coconut oil - 1/2 tsp
Italian Seasoning - 1/2 tsp
Chicken stock - 1 cup
Fat free milk / soy milk / almond milk (all unflavored) - 1 cup
Salt - not so much keep it less in sauce
For Mac and cheese:
Boiled macoroni , (i used Whole Wheat Penne cut into small size as i couldn't find whole wheat mac anywhere) - 1 cup
ButterNutSquash Puree - 1 cup
Shreaded Sharp cheddar - 1/4 cup
Shreaded Mozeralla - 1/8 cup
Parmesan shreaded - 2 tbsp
Panko Breadcrumps - 2 tbsp
Red Pepper flakes - a pinch
Salt - as needed
Spinach (optional ) - 1 cup chopped finely
Turkey Bacon (Optional) - 4 slices
ButterNutSquash Puree - 1 cup
Shreaded Sharp cheddar - 1/4 cup
Shreaded Mozeralla - 1/8 cup
Parmesan shreaded - 2 tbsp
Panko Breadcrumps - 2 tbsp
Red Pepper flakes - a pinch
Salt - as needed
Spinach (optional ) - 1 cup chopped finely
Turkey Bacon (Optional) - 4 slices
Method :
For ButterNutSquash Puree:
1.Take a sauce pan , add oil and add crushed garlic cloves and saute it in low flame for the flavour of garlic to infuse with oil.
2.Then add butternut squash and saute it a min , then add stock and milk and Italian seasoning and cover and cook till squash is very soft.
This Is The Puree We Will Be Using To Make Mac AND Cheese .You can store this in a box in refrigerator and use a cup of this sauce when ever you are ready to make mac and cheese.
You can also made it in big batches and store in freezer in 1 cup size packages and use them later.
Now let's make mac and cheese:
I like to add some extra vegetable nutrient to the pasta so i am using some chopped spinach.
For some topping I am using some turkey bacon crumbles , you can leave this step if you mean to keep this vegetarian.
For some topping I am using some turkey bacon crumbles , you can leave this step if you mean to keep this vegetarian.
1.Now take 1/2 tsp of oil and saute spinach a min , then add boiled pasta and add a cup of ButterNutSquash puree and and cheddar and give it a stir .
2.Add red pepper flakes and salt (if needed, cheese has some salt and we are going to top with some parmesan cheese so mind the salt)
3.If pasta is little thick add a tbsp of milk or heavy cream to thin it a little.
4.Add extra cheese if the taste doesn't resembles cheesy.
6.Put your oven in broiler high.
7.Put the pasta we made in a oven safe dish and top it with Parmesan breadcrumb mixture and some mozeralla cheese and put this in broiler for 2 min or just the top is golden and bubbly.
Watch carefully it can go from bubbly to burnt in a min.
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