INGREDIENTS:
coarse salt
1 pound macaroni with ridges, such as penne rigate or tubettini
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 medium onion
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 10-ounce box frozen cooked butternut squash, defrosted
1 cup cream or half-and-half
2 cups (8 ounces) grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Heat a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Salt the water, then add the pasta and cook al dente.
While the pasta cooks, heat a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the thyme and grate the onion directly into the pot with a hand-held grater or microplane. Cook the grated onions for a minute or 2, then add the flour and cook together for a minute or 2 more. Whisk in the stock, then add the butternut squash and cook until warmed through and smooth. Stir in the cream and bring the sauce to a bubble. Stir in the cheeses in a figure-eight motion and season the completed sauce with salt, nutmeg and pepper. Taste to adjust the seasonings.
Drain the cooked pasta well and combine with the sauce. Give a little extra sprinkle of cheese and garnish with thyme sprigs.
From: Rachael Ray, 2005
selected by Ellen E
8 comments:
I made this last night, so even though it's way early, I want to share before I forget all my thoughts. (Plus, I'm eating it right now for lunch.)
Overall, I would give this dish a 6 out of 10. I like it, and it did take fewer than 30 minutes to make, which is terrific, but for the taste and the amount of unhealthy ingredients, I wouldn't add it to my regular rotation.
First of all, I couldn't find frozen butternut squash that was kosher, so I steamed and mashed a half of a fresh squash. So perhaps I would have had different results with the packaged kind. But I thought the squash was stringy, not creamy, in the sauce, and that was disappointing.
Also, I made this and then left it covered but off the heat while I put Cara to bed. I was concerned that the sauce had been too soupy, but when we came back to eat it, I guess a lot of the liquid had absorbed into the pasta, so it was a little thicker, which was good.
If I made this again, I would top it with some more shredded cheddar and maybe breadcrumbs and put it in the broiler to have some crunch.
But good pick, Ellen. First of all, I got to use up my thyme and cream from the mushroom soup, and second, I was inspired by the possibility of making a real meal (not veggie burgers) in 30 minutes. I normally am highly annoyed by Rachel Ray and her EVOO, but she does deliver. (I just looked at this recipe in her new cookbook and Ellen did a bit of editing to cut all the Rachelisms out of the ingredients and instructions.)
I should add that the steaming and mashing of fresh butternut squash happened outside of the 30 minutes.
I really liked this recipe. I LOVE macaroni and cheese and was super excited to make it from scratch. I didn't add the thyme b/c I was afraid of that taste overpowering everything and I forgot the nutmeg, so mine turned out a little bit bland. I liked the leftovers better b/c I felt that the cheese sauce thickened a little bit. The first serving was a little bit too thin for my liking. I agree that I couldn't make this too often b/c of the large amounts of cream and heavy ingredients, but I really liked the recipe. Easy and fun to make. Thanks Ellen!
So even though I was the one who picked this recipe, I wasn't in love with it. I used low-fat cheese and fat-free cream, but was frustrated that those were the only ingredients I could use to cut fat. It still was pretty rich and needed something to balance it out, but I couldn't think of what that might be. Maybe some grilled chicken or something? I am a most-of-the-time fan of Rachael Ray, but I don't like how a lot of her meals are higher fat.
My husband loved it, though, and our 15-month old daughter couldn't get the noodles into her mouth fast enough!
Overall, I'd say it might be a nice 'once-in-a-while' meal, but too rich for regular eating. Easy to make, though, and I'm always a fan of that! And for a variation on macaroni and cheese, which is my favorite food in the world (Anne ES can vouch for this!), this was pretty good.
I cooked this recipe about a week ago. I went to Whole Foods near where we live to look for the ingredients and the Whole Foods at our place does not have frozen butternut squash! I'm going to use my being Japanese as my excuse... I had no idea what butternut squash looked like until I went home and looked it up on the internet! I did find raw butternut squash in veggie section later on at Whole Foods, so I could've used it! Instead, I saw yellow squash (I know, it's nothing like butternut squash) and used it in the recipe and it wasn't too bad, but I imagine that what I made was nothing like what it's supposed to be like!!! So, this is my story. Maca, I was thinking about you when I was making this recipe, because I knew that you wouldn't find the butternut squash in Cairo. I will be in the same situation after March since we'll be abroad again. I know that this is going to sound strange for some people, but it would help some of us if we can have more recipes with ingredients that are more commonly used.
This recipe looks so delicious...but, alas, after a week of searching for any form of butternut squash in Cairo, I am afraid that I am not going to be able to put the ingredients together. I was thinking about using sweet potatos, but the suggestion did not sit well with my husband, who would have had to help me eat it. Can't wait to hear how it turned out for everyone else!
I am going to have to jump on the bandwagon here and say I did not love the recipe. It was just too bland. The first bite was promising, but I was quickly bored with it. I enjoyed making it since it was so different, and I was curious how it would come together, but the final result did not wow me. I ate it with my roommate, but then we tossed most of the leftovers.
I used lowfat cheese, 1% milk, and whole wheat pasta as replacements, but I don't think this accounted for the lack of flavor. I was also excited to use the leftover thyme from last month, but not surprisingly, between that, the butter, and onion, it also made me feel like this dish had a very similar flavor to the mushroom soup!
I liked this recipe. It was a nice treat, which may be a result of the fat that I was one of the few people to use full fat ingredients! However, I agree that it was a bit bland. I love thyme but its flavor didn't come out very strongly. I thought the blandness may have been because I didn't have enough cheddar. If I make it again I will use more chedder and a more SHARP chedder to give it more punch.
I couldn't find frozen or fresh butternut squash. So, I used another squash that was less sweet and more watery than butternut. I baked it for 30minutes and then put it through Clio's food mill. It worked well but I wonder if it resulted in less flavor.
Post a Comment