Yum. This little experiment has been in my brain for a long time!! Ever since I first posted on facebook asking my friends what their favorite recipe is with Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce, in fact! A wonderful, genius-in-the-kitchen lady from my church commented and told me about how her family blends chipotle peppers into their macaroni! I have only tried to make home made macaroni once before…it didn’t work too well. It was in the crock pot, and the recipe had an option where you mix eggs in. Well, being a young cook at that time (well, honestly…I’m still a young cook)…I didn’t think about how that could be weird. I like to use everything in the recipe the first time I make it, to make sure I get the full flavor. So I put in the eggs. Yeah. Eggs. Macaroni. Crock pot. Not a good combo. It was like scrambled egg macaroni. Gag.
This attempt was the opposite of gag. It was super successful and delicious! And I am proud to say that this is very nearly “healthy macaroni!!” I say “very nearly” because…well, frankly, it’s macaroni and cheese. The “diet” we try to loosely follow, The Maker’s Diet, says that dairy should be raw and less than 25% of your daily intake. This exceeds the dairy limit according to that standard. However…as far as macaroni and cheese goes, this is pretty phenomenal because of the substitutions I used in place of some of the more traditional ingredients. Curious? Read on!
So, here’s what you need:
- 1/4 C Ezekiel Bread Crumbs
- 2 tsp Olive Oil
- 2 C Almond Milk, divided
- 1 Medium Butternut Squash (Alternately, apparently you can find frozen winter squash puree)
- Small amount of butter or coconut oil
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 lb (2 Boxes) Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pagodas
- 1 1/3 C Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Grated
- 2/3 C Monterrey Jack Cheese, Grated
- 1/2 C Ricotta Cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Powdered Mustard
- Pinch of Chipotle Chili Powder
- 2 Tbsp Parmesan, Grated
And here’s how you do it:
- First, you gotta get your squash started, because it takes the longest. Obviously, if you are going the “frozen puree” route then you can skip these next couple steps. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Very carefully cut your squash in half long ways. You may have to cut into the squash as far as you can, then use a rubber mallet or something similar to tap the blade through.
- Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
- Place on a foil-lined pan. Rub with a small amount of butter or coconut oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper!
- Bake until tender, about 40 minutes. When done, turn your oven up to 375* for your macaroni.
- Grate your cheese.
- In your food processor, dump your ricotta, 1/2 C of the almond milk, 1 chipotle pepper with a tsp or so of the sauce (depending on how spicy you like it), garlic cloves, salt, mustard, and chipotle chili powder.
- As soon as your squash is cooked, spoon the flesh into your food processor. Pulse until smooth and creamy!
- Time to start your noodles! Cook them according to the package directions.
- Now, pour your squash puree into a pan over medium heat. Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 C of almond milk. Stir until combined and creamy
- When squash mixture is getting bubbly, mix in your ricotta/chipotle mixture and stir until combined. When your noodles are cooked and drained, you can stir in the cheddar and Monterrey jack cheese.
- Dump in your noodles and stir to coat. Dump into a baking dish (9X13 or comparable)
- In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, oil, and parmesan.
- Sprinkle on top of the macaroni. Slide into your preheated oven and bake about 20 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and bread crumbs are browned. Flip your oven on to broil if you want more brown…but watch it close and only leave in there for a minute or two. It’s amazing how fast things burn in the broiler!