A Day in the Life of a Butternut Squash (aka Squash Mac’n Cheese)

This week is my fall break, it’s fabulous.  Two days off of school?  Thank you Mississippi!  To celebrate, my sister (the one who cured me of my fear of yeast), came down to visit!  Obviously with the two of us together, delicious cooking ensued.  She’ll be guest blogging the next two posts (hence the weird squash perspective), but don’t worry, the recipes are still fabulously delicious.  Enjoy!

Yawn. Good morning y’all, what a heavenly day. The sun is a shinin’ and the birds a chirpin’, today is going to be a good day. My brothers and sisters are all still asleep while I enjoy some sweet morning dew. What a lovely day in the Delta. Today I am going to market, I have plumped up nice and my rind is good and thick, I will surely be a prize pick! All my life I have dreamt of 

Okay, that was getting exhausting. Long story short, we decided to go to the farmers’ market in Greenwood near Laura’s house. Now, before you go and picture some adorable roadside stand with local farmers and fabulous local produce, let me burst your bubble (much as mine was burst) and tell you that this was not really all local produce, but more produce that was sold outside, by locals… It was still cute, but it was not really a true farmers’ market. Anywho, we stopped by the pick up a butternut squash for an inventive twist on a southern classic, Mac’n Cheese. Sidenote, while at the Paula Deen buffet in Tunica (go ahead, soak it in, let that jealous rage bubble…) this group of crotchety old people very loudly noted that Paula’s mac’n cheese was not, I repeat, NOT, any better than Stouffers… BLASPHEMY!  Anyway, we had decided when I arrived to make this butternut squash recipe I had read about in my Cooking Light magazine. It sounded kind of odd, but perhaps delicious in a this is good but is not exactly a true mac’n cheese kind of way.

To our surprise though, it was fabulous and tasted like real mac’n cheese! You couldn’t even tell there was squash in it! It was yellow from the squash so you didn’t really miss that cheddar color. In fact, it was so good and tasted so much like real, artery clogging mac’n cheese that Laura’s one friend who does not like squash had seconds. To be quite honest, I think he missed the conversation about there being squash in the sauce, perhaps he was distracted by the football game. Either way, he loved it and later asked for the recipe, which his wife, excited to sneak vegetables into his diet, assured him she would get form Laura.

So here’s the recipe.  Butternut squash mac’n cheese (8 servings):

Ingredients:

3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 1 lb)

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tsp salt

pepper to taste

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp Greek yogurt

5 oz (1 1/4 cup) shredded Gruyere cheese (or, you know, swiss if you’re in the Delta.  Let’s be honest, Walmart does not carry Gruyere)

1 oz (1/4 cup) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided

4oz (1 cup) grated pecorino Romano cheese

1 lb pasta (whatever kind, but something that will hold the cheese, like ziti or something)

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees

2. Combine the squash, broth, milk, and garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the squash is tender, about 25 minutes.  Remove from heat.

3. Place the squash mixture in a blender.  Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and Greek yogurt.  Remove the center piece of the blender and secure the lid.  Place a towel over the opening in the top and blend until smooth.  Place blended squash mixture in a bowl; stir in Gruyere (or swiss), pecoino Romano, and 2 tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Stir until combined.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain pasta and stir it into the squash mixture.  Spread mixture evenly into a baking dish coated with cooking spray.

5. If you want to, heat a tbsp of oil in a saucepan and brown the breadcrumbs.  Otherwise, just add breadcrumbs and 2 tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  Sprinkle over the top of the pasta.  Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, or until bubbly and delicious looking.

*There should be a picture of the final product here…BUT basically the moment I set it on the table it started to get devoured, soooo, no picture.  Let me assure you though, it was fabulous.*

Kielbasa Pasta

I made pierogies (not from scratch, just the frozen kind…although I really want to make an attempt at homemade pierogies one of these days…) with kielbasa and sauerkraut a few weeks ago for myself and today I realized I STILL had some of the kielbasa chilling in the freezer.  Needless to say, it needed to get eaten pretty soon.  I wasn’t really feeling more pierogies, so I decided to make some pasta with it instead.  Yesterday I bought a bunch of green peppers at the farmer’s market here in town, so this dish seemed like the perfect use for both of these ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lb kielbasa (I use turkey kielbasa, but whatever), sliced and cut in half

1 small green pepper (about 1/2-3/4 cup), chopped

1/2 a small onion (maybe 1/3 cup), chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes

8oz pasta (I used penne, but use whatever you want)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, saute the kielbasa, green pepper, onion and garlic in oil until sausage is lightly browned. Stir in tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Spoon kielbasa mixture over pasta to serve and top with cheese.

Spinach-Artichoke Lasagna

Love this recipe.  It is absolutely one of my go-to company recipes, especially when that company involves vegetarians.  I attempted to make this recipe last year for a lovely little dinner party I was throwing for 3 friends, 2 of which were vegetarians.  The fact that we were all teachers, however, really got in the way of that.  One of them ended up being sick (I’m gonna blame the kids for that one) and the other two had so much work to do that they had to reschedule.  This did not, however, stop me from making this lasagna, because darn it my roommate and I had our hearts set on spinach-artichoke-y goodness and the lack of company was not going to stop us!  Later that night I took some of the leftovers to my friend who was sick to make her feel better.  She seriously raved about this lasagna for a week!

I used my own homemade tomato sauce for this recipe, but feel free to use the store-bought stuff if that’s easier for you.  I’m just cheap, and I made this on a Sunday, so I had plenty of time to devote to making tomato sauce instead of just opening up a jar.

Ingredients:

cooking spray

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (14.5 oz) can vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you’re not feeding this to vegetarians)

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 (14 oz) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 (16 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry

1 (24 oz) jar tomato sauce, or make your own with this recipe

9 oven-ready lasagna noodles

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1 (4 oz) package feta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high. Saute onion and garlic for 3 minutes, or until onion is tender-crisp. Stir in broth and rosemary; bring to a boil. Stir in artichoke hearts and spinach; reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in pasta sauce.

3. Spread 1/4 of the artichoke mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish; top with 3 noodles. Sprinkle 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese over noodles. Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with artichoke mixture and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle crumbled feta on top.

4. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, and bake 15 minutes more, or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

White Bean Penne

This is possibly one of the easiest recipes I have ever made.  If you can boil water, open cans, and do a little chopping, then you’re golden.  Seriously, that’s it. I gave this recipe to a friend of mine who isn’t exactly kitchen savvy—she literally came up to me one day and excitedly told me about successfully baking frozen french fries—and even she can make this pasta!

Don’t let the ease of this recipe fool you, though.  It is delicious and definitely impressive!  If you’ve got last minute company (especially if you’re like me and that last minute company often includes vegetarians), this recipe is a go-to!  In about 25 minutes you will have a delicious pasta dish that is far from ordinary.

Ingredients:

1 lb penne pasta (I like to use wheat pasta because it’s healthier, but the regular stuff is delicious too)

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 can cannellini beans, undrained

1/2 cup roasted red peppers

1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved

1 tbsp dried parsley

black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, or to taste (just omit the cheese to make this vegan)

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water according to package directions.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and saute until golden.  Add beans with their liquid (I know this sounds slightly gross, but trust me, it works), olives, and roasted red peppers.  Stir to mix and simmer until heated through.

3. Transfer 1/2 cup of pasta water from pot to skillet.  Drain pasta and add to skillet along with parsley and black pepper.  Toss to mix and coat (or just be lazy and put the sauce on the pasta once it’s on the plate.  I do that sometimes…it’s better if you toss it though).  Sprinkle with cheese to serve.