Cheddar Squash & Pasta

Eat Your Vegetables!'s Note:

There are few things that are more homey and comforting than macaroni and cheese, but it isn't the healthiest dish by any account. This is the mac & cheese my Mom taught me to make, with the addition of vegetables. Adding vegetables to the pasta serves to both add nutrition value and to decrease the amount of pasta that you actually eat with a serving. This is also good with broccoli, zucchini, and penne pasta but yellow summer squash with rotini pasta is my favorite. Another great twist on mac & cheese that's more high-end is to make this sauce without the vegetables and toss with linguine. Don't bake it when you try the linguine method.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 cups pasta , uncooked
• 1 large summer squash , cut into sticks (I like bigger pieces)
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1 cup kraft shredded 2% cheddar cheese
• breadcrumbs (optional)
• cooking spray
• salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.
2. Add the pasta and return to a boil.
3. Add the squash and cook until pasta is al dente. Drain.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt the margarine.
5. Add the flour to the margarine to form a paste.
6. Add the milk to the paste and whisk smooth.
7. Add salt & pepper to taste.
8. Once the white sauce is thickened add the cheddar cheese and whisk until melted.
9. Coat a casserole dish with the cooking spray.
10. Combine the pasta, squash and cheese sauce and pour the mixture in the baking dish.
11. Sprinkle with a light coating of bread crumbs if desired (will prevent cheese from developing 'crust').
12. Bake casserole at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

Reviews

[Mama's Kitchen (Hope)]

Even my picky eater enjoyed this!

[smellyvegetarian]

This is just great. It definitely goes into my keeper file! I have often messed with mac and cheese to health it up a bit, but the summer squash was just inspired! It gets so creamy and buttery when cooked...a perfect fit! My DS is in an anti-squash phase, but he gobbled this up like there's no tomorrow. I used elbows to simulate regular ol' mac and cheese, and I did some grated squash and some finely chopped. Yum! DH and I devoured it as much as DS!! I did skip the breadcrumbs, as we like our baked mac and cheese crispy on top. Thanks so much for posting; this is a total winner! Made for PAC Spring 2009.

[Jockey]

I knew I was going to like this even before I tried it. Never ever thought to add squash to a mac cheese thing! I used butternut squash from my freezer that had been blanched. Just threw it in in chunks before baking. Changed the cheese to more of our Mac Cheese style - Velveeta & Sharp as we prefer that to cheddar. It was great. Reheated well too. Thanks for sharing this one. Will make it again for sure.