Pumpkin and Apple Mac 'n' Cheese

Mmm, pumpkin and apple, classic fall foods, classic combination. And cheese just makes everything better! As always, the amounts below are estimates, since I don't measure while I cook. I just add it until it's the way I want it.

Blue Pumpkin, yum!

 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup macaroni
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 honeycrisp apples (or another sweet apple), cored and diced
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1 tbs cinnamon
3 cups roasted pumpkin, mashed (I used the leftover half of the Blue Pumpkin)
1 cup Jarlsburg cheese (or any swiss), grated
1/3 cup bread crumbs
a dash of heavy whipping cream (or yogurt)
oil for the pan
salt & pepper to taste

Set water with a pinch of salt to boil for the macaroni. Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When hot, throw in the onions for about 7 minutes, or until translucent. Add garlic and cook one minute more. Then add apples and 1/2 the spices. Cook about 3 minutes, then add pumpkin, with more salt and pepper and remaining spices. Stir to combine. Then add cooked macaroni, cheese, bread crumbs, and heavy whipping cream. Reserve some cheese and bread crumbs for topping.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop into a greased pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bread crumbs. Cook about 12 minutes or until cheese on top is melted and the edges are browned. And your done!

Pumpkin Apple Mac 'n' Cheese: Done!

 

 

It turned out a little more like a casserole than like mac 'n' cheese, but you could always use less pumpkin and more macaroni, if that's how you like it. Enjoy!

Grilled Pumpkin

OK, so I lied. I know I said I would be writing about Pumpkin Mac 'n' Cheese, and I will, but my husband really wanted to grill, so I thought we could experiment with a new method of cooking and a new variety of pumpkin...

Grilling and pumpkins don't often go together, since the former is associated with warm weather and the latter with cold. However, here in San Antonio, it is not uncommon to have pleasant weather in November.

Ingredients
Blue Pumpkin (or any kind really)
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Butter

Prep was easy, I just cut a blue pumpkin in half and sliced it into about 3/4 inch slices. I love the bright orange of the flesh and how it contrasts so beautifully with the blue skin!

Anyways, then I just sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and olive oil and set the directly on the grill grate. Cook for about 10 minutes on each side with the cover on. Serve with butter and salt. And your done! Super easy!

The blue pumpkin tastes very much like an acorn squash but a little heartier, if that's possible. It yields quite a lot of flesh. We only needed one half the pumpkin to feed us, and even then there were leftovers (it's quite filling). This variety also has a ton of tightly packed seeds, which I will experiment with at a later date.

Next up: the thing I actually promised in my last post, pumpkin mac 'n' cheese.