“This post/recipe originally appeared on my main blog BigBearsWife.com”
Friday was an interesting day for me. Interesting because I did something for the very first time…I was on TV! Actually, I was on LIVE TV. haha It was probably one of the scariest things ever for me. I’m more of a behind the scenes person so to be out in front of a camera was terrifying for me.
According to everyone else though, I did really good. So I’m just going to take their word for it and go on with my life. 😉 I was on WSLS Roanoke News to talk about the winning dish that Elizabeth (from E, Myself and I) and I made at the Food Lion Cook-off. I won’t get into all of the details now because I’m going to be writing a post on it soon but let me just tell you, it was amazing and terrifying all at the same time.
Speaking of new things, let’s talk a bit about this Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese. It’s also new to me. I love most things pumpkin and I love Macaroni and Cheese, so I figured that’d I’d throw the two together and everything would be ok. I had no idea that I would enjoy the pumpkin with the cheese so much though!
At first it kind of surprised me. Even though I made it and I knew I put pumpkin in it, there was still the visual of “this is mac and cheese” so the pumpkin flavor caught my taste-buds off guard. But the more I ate of it the more I liked it! My god-daughter Alyssa gave it the thumbs up and I sent her home today with a huge container of it! (I’m always happy when the little ones like my food haha)
Oh and the pasta….yes. I know we are well past Halloween but look, I don’t like to waste food. Just because the pasta happens to have bats and spiders and pumpkin shapes doesn’t mean that it taste any different than regular pasta. 😉 Plus what pasta would be better for Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese than pasta shaped like pumpkins! haha
Isn’t that the coolest pasta! When I went to Greensboro the other weekend I picked up a bag of Halloween pasta at World Market and then when I got home that day I had a goodie box waiting for me at the house from my Sister-in-law and she had packed me a bag of Halloween pasta too! (and I can’t remember if this is the bag she gave me or the one I bought, oops)
Sorry back to the Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese! I made a cheese sauce with milk, flour, and cheese. Then I added in the pumpkin puree, some nutmeg, dry mustard, pepper, salt and paprkia.
Whisked it all together until the cheese was nice and “melty” and then dumped in the cooked pasta! Easy Peasy. I think it took me less than 10 minutes to make the cheese sauce, if it even took that long.
If you’re going to re-heating this later you may want to add a splash or two of milk before heating. It does tend to thicken a bit as it sits and cools.
I was really tempted to but bacon in this Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese, but I think I’ll save the bacon and pumpkin for another day.
Happy Haunting! Check out all of the spooky Halloween recipes and crafts on BigBearsWife.com!!
Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese
Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese
- Yield: 8-10 LARGE SERVINGS
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups milk
- 16 ounces can ( or 2 cups) pumpkin puree, canned or homemade (NOT PUMPKIN PIE MIX)
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 -5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons flour + 1/2 cup milk
- Pasta of your choice (about 16 ounces)
Instructions
- Bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. Add in pasta and cook for about 12 minutes or until done.
- While the pasta is cooking. Heat 3.5 cups of milk in a large pot until hot (do not let it boil!)
- In a sauce pan heat 1/2 cups of milk until hot. Whisk in flour. Whisk until there are no flour lumps left.
- Add the flour and milk mixture to the large pot of hot milk. Whisk together.
- Add in the cheddar cheese and mix until melted. Add in the pumpkin and mix well.
- Whisk in the salt, pepper, paprika, dry mustard, and nutmeg.
- Taste and season if necessary (It WILL be\"pumpkiny\" haha)
- Stir in cooked, drained pasta.
- (to re-heat, add a splash of milk before re-heating)
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Post and Recipe reposted with from my other blog BigBearsWife.com
Angie runs this blog, “Southern Halloween Queen” where she shares her love of Halloween with her own recipes and fun recipes/projects from other Halloween loving bloggers! She also runs her first blog, BigBearsWife.com that’s packed full of Southern recipes, her love of Disney and fun vacation ideas!
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[…] Serve it alongside some “ghost mashed potatoes” and pumpkin mac and cheese! […]