Skip to main content

Pumpkin Mac and (no) Cheese

A 5-ingredient tasty alternative to traditional Mac ’n Cheese, this makes a delicious and warming autumnal family meal and is a great way to use up some of that pumpkin from the Halloween celebrations!

Time 1 hour
Skill Level Easy

Ingredients List

 

Serves 4
  • 1 white onion large
  • 500 g pumpkin (prepared pumpkin or butternut squash)
  • 5 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 650 ml cashew milk (or other plant-based milk alternative)
  • 300 g uncooked spelt or wholewheat macaroni (egg-free)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C and line a large ovenproof baking dish/tin with baking parchment.
  2. Peel and cut the onion into quarters. Peel, deseed and chop the pumpkin into large chunks. Season well with salt and pepper. 
  3. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes or until soft and starting to brown a little around the edges.
  4. Place the pumpkin and onion in a high-speed blender and add the nutritional yeast, and cashew milk.  Blend until you have a silky smooth sauce. Adjust seasoning to your liking with salt/pepper.
  5. Remove the baking parchment from the baking dish/tin and add the macaroni. Pour over the sauce and stir so that all the pasta is well coated.
  6. Cover tightly with foil, and place back in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked through but is still “al dente’.
  7. Serve immediately with a crisp green salad on the side.
 

Notes

  • This recipe, whilst delicious as it is, can easily be tweaked with additional ingredients and flavors according to your liking and what you have on hand.
  • Try adding a crushed clove of garlic/Dijon mustard/chopped fresh sage/chopped fresh thyme/cayenne pepper to the sauce.
  • You could also remove the foil for the last few minutes of cooking and top with a handful of pine nuts/pumpkin seeds/breadcrumbs, putting it back in the oven until it starts to brown.
  • Sprinkle the finished dish with chopped fresh parsley.