Pumpkin mac ‘n’ cheese
Does an American-style cheesy pasta dish sound like something too fatty and unhealthy when you want to make healthier food choices? We believe that you can create a healthy alternative to any dish, and the wholemeal mac ‘n’ cheese recipe we’re about to introduce you to proves it. Our version contains not a gram of dairy, gluten or oil – the only source of fat in this recipe is from whole Indian nuts, and only a handful of them. The ingredients are healthy, but the taste is delicious!
Servings: for four pasta lovers
Preparation time: 35 minutes steaming-roasting time and 5 minutes sauce preparation time.
Difficulty: Easy
You will need:
- 320 g steamed potatoes
- 55 g soaked Indian nuts
- 350 g pumpkin puree (make your own by baking the pumpkin in the oven and then pureeing it, or use ready-made pumpkin puree).
- 1 roasted garlic clove (cut off the ends and roast at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes with the skin on).
- 1,5 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- sea salt (to taste)
- 110 ml vegetable broth or water
- 400 g of a delicious gluten-free pasta
- If you have a lighter shade of pumpkin and want a more yellowish/orange shade, you can also add a little ground turmeric.
How to make mac n cheese?
First, clean and peel about half a kilo of potatoes, place them in a steamer, and steam until soft.To make the pumpkin puree, heat the oven to 200 degrees. Peel, clean and chop the pumpkin into small pieces, place them on a baking tray and add a clove of garlic with the top cut off. Roast for about 25-30 minutes, until the pumpkin is soft. Then place the pumpkin in a blender or use a whisk to puree it, adding a little hot water if necessary.
Once the potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes and pumpkin puree are ready, place the right amount of steamed potatoes in the blender with the pumpkin puree, broth, Indian nuts, roasted garlic and seasonings. For the garlic, carefully squeeze the cloves out of the skins – roasting will expose the garlic cloves to soften. Squeeze until an even silky texture is achieved.
Set the sauce aside for a moment and prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. When the pasta is ready, place the sauce in a pot or a pan with higher sides and heat. Then pour in the cooked pasta.
Serve immediately.
