Pumpkin Mac n' Cheese

And the pumpkin kick continues! Today I bring to you my own homemade version of pumpkin mac n' cheese. I was inspired by a couple sources to make this. One is my own butternut squash mac n' cheese that I made last year, and the other is a recent recipe by Angela from Oh She Glows. Below is the recipe I ended up using that I kind of just created as I went along... Oh, and I did take a look at a couple of my own cookbooks too just to make sure I was generally on the right track with ingredient measurements. :)

Ingredients:

-2 cups of pasta, cooked and drained (use whatever shape you'd like!)

-1 to 2 Tbsp. butter

-1 and 1/2 cups of milk (I used 1%)

-2 to 3 Tbsp. flour

-salt and pepper to taste

-1 heaping cup of canned pumpkin

-1 heaping cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I used VT sharp!)

-1/4 to 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

-handful of bread crumbs and more parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Cook and drain the pasta and set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and stir it with the milk until the milk is steaming. Whisk in the flour and cook the mixture until it begins to bubble and thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the mixture is thickened (you'll easily be able to tell when this happens!), remove from heat and stir in your canned pumpkin until smooth. Next, stir in the cheddar and parmesan cheese until well combined. 

In a large bowl, combine the pasta and pumpkin/cheese mixture until the pasta is well coated. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray, and add the pasta mixture to it. Top with whatever amount of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese you'd like (I didn't measure how much I added to mine; I just sprinkled some on top until it looked just about right :)). Bake for about 15 to 25 minutes, until the top is lightly golden brown and slightly crispy to your liking. ENJOY!!!

Milk mixture, beginning to thicken...

Time to stir in the oh-so-important pumpkin!

Lookin' good enough to eat...

Lookin' even better with the addition of cheese...

And more cheese...

The cheese sauce doesn't look too appetizing here, but trust me, it is.

I wanted to eat it at this stage. There's a chance I did... Just one bite.

Bread crumbs and parm cheese on top before popping it into the oven...

Out of the oven and ready to EAT!!!

Oh yeah. Pumpkin mac n' cheese. Simple and "healthified"! Perhaps you'd like to serve this with a tasty, homemade pumpkin biscuit? And if you're in the mood for a pumpkin flavored dessert after you enjoy this meal, I've got a tasty pumpkin cookie recipe coming up next for you... :)

Happy mid-week!