My boyfriend and I recently started getting shipments from Misfits Market. We are trying to diversify our veggie intake! We have been receiving a lot of butternut squashes so my new hobby is disguising them into regular dishes for my boyfriend. If you have someone who is very picky with eating vegetables, this recipe might be worth a try!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of butter (you can sub this with olive oil for less dairy!)
1/8 cup of flour
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1-1 1/2 cups of water
1/3 A large butternut squash, cubed or thinly sliced
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup mozzarella cheese
Your choice of pasta: (we have used chickpea pasta, turmeric pasta, and spaghetti squash and they all worked wonderfully!)
Salt and Pepper to Taste
For extra flavor: add a dash of truffle salt, and a shake of vegan chicken-less seasoning from Trader Joes!
Start by melting the butter in a deep pan or pot on medium heat.
Take your cheese out of the fridge and let it warm up while you complete the following steps!
Chop your garlic (it doesn't need to be very fine since we will be blending it) and add it to the melted butter. Let it cook until the garlic starts to brown.
With a whisk, slowly stir your flour into your melted butter mixture. It will develop a pretty thick consistency, but keep stirring!
Let the mixture cook while constantly stirring until it begins to change from the flour white to a more golden brown color. Once this color has been achieved, add in a cup and a half of warmed water (it doesn't have to be boiling but it should be at least room temperature).
Stir the water and flour mixture until any lump are gone and it all blends together into a smooth consistency. It should be a velvety texture thicker than water, but not as thick as most Mac and cheese. You can add the rest of the half cup if you feel that your mixture is still too thick.
Add in the granulated garlic and nutmeg to the mixture, sometimes I also add a dash of truffle salt (very light-handed) which gives a little more depth of flavor.
Throw in your butternut squash slices. (*note you can add more or less squash during this portion depending on how squash-forward you would like this dish to be!) Let them continue to cook in the mixture on medium heat. Stir semi-frequently so that everything does not get stuck to the bottom! I would let them cook for about 10 minutes, or until you can easily pierce them with a fork and mash the squash easily.
Once the butternut squash is very soft, turn off the heat. Continue to stir occasionally until the mixture has stopped bubbling. Let the mixture cool for at least 5 minutes before adding it to the blender. I always add a small amount to the blender first to let the glass adjust to the heat before pouring the full volume of sauce.
Blend the sauce until it is smooth. I try not to overdo it but you also don't want any chunks of squash remaining!
Return your blended mixture to the same pan you just removed it from. Put it on low-medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble again. Once it begins to bubble, change the stovetop heat to a low setting.
Slowly sprinkle both the mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese into the mixture. Make sure it incorporates in before adding more. It should result in a very cheesy and stringy texture.
Once the cheese is all incorporated, this is when I add salt and pepper to taste as well as adjusting any other of the spices mentioned above if you desire.
Now that the cheese sauce is complete, add it to your favorite pasta and pair as you please! I cooked turmeric pasta in the picture above, and let it finish off cooking in this cheese sauce for a couple more minutes. I topped with a little more parmesan cheese and black pepper. Bob (my boyfriend) was unaware that there was squash or turmeric in the dish so it is great for sneaking some vegetables in for picky eaters! We paired with Brussels sprouts for added veggies and it went together beautifully.
Enjoy! :)
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