Macaroni Cheese with Pumpkin

[cookie1]

Macaroni Cheese with Pumpkin:
At least 6 maybe 8:
Ingredients:
125g parmesan
125g cheddar
600g jap or Queensland blue pumpkin
2 stalks rosemary leaves
sea salt
1/8 verjuice or white wine
1 litre milk
1 bay leaf
80g unsalted butter
80g plain flour
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
200g macaroni
75g goat's fetta

Preparation:
Peel and deseed pumpkin, cut into 2cm pieces, put on baking sheet,sprinkle with chopped rosemary and some EVOO and roast about 20- 25 minutes at 200⁰.Sprinkle the verjuice over and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
Grate parmesan and cheddar in TMX and set aside.(in separate bowls)
Heat milk in  , with bay leaf until it reaches 100⁰. Use   and reverse.
Set aside for leaf to flavour the milk and then remove leaf.
Melt butter in bowl 100⁰ for about 2 minutes at speed 1.
Add flour and mix at 100⁰ for about 2-3 minutes. Use speed 1.
While on speed 2 add warm milk through the MC hole. Cook at 100⁰ for about 7 minutes on speed 3.
Add nutmeg and parmesan to white sauce and stir until cheese is melted through. Remove and cover with glad wrap to stop a skin forming.
Cook macaroni according to the EDC.
When cooked add the macaroni to the cheese sauce and pumpkin. Stir through gently. Stir through the crumbled fetta. Put into a large casserole dish, sprinkle the cheddar over and bake at 180/200 for 10-20 minutes.

Photos:


Tips/Hints:
This recipe is from Maggie Beer but I have tweaked and Thermomixed it. The instructions are from memory so you may need to alter them. It freezes well.

members' comments

O2K - Made this tonight with a combination of pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot and broccoli.  I roasted the orange ones and quickly steamed the broccoli before adding it to the mix.  Delicious, and DS1 ate the lot - yay!  Also plenty of leftovers for DH for lunch tomorrow.  Thanks for posting the conversion.

JD - We had this for a light lunch Cookie and it was really nice.  I started off by cooking the total amount of pumpkin before I saw how many the dish served so then adjusted everything else down to 1/2 quantities.  I did put all the pumpkin in though. No complaints from DH about another vegetarian meal.

Snoozie - Absolutely beautiful. Very rich. Have plenty left to freeze.

KerrynN - We made this again the other night and to my surprise it seems to pass muster as a replacement for "Cheesy Pasta from the Box" - even with the pumpkin in it!

[judydawn]

Sounds and looks good to me Cookie.  Nice as a side dish to chicken/lamb.

[Very Happy Jan]

Sounds pretty good to me as well Cookie1. I think your family are just too spoilt if they didn't like it 

[cookie1]

I used it as the main with salad Judy as it had so much cheese in it. DH kindly informed me that perhaps we should have more meat meals!!!! We're having steak tonight, pork roast last night and lamb chops tomorrow night.

[judydawn]

Men like their meat Cookie but we all know it isn't necessary every single night.  I'm sure he doesn't complain too much.

[CreamPuff63]

thanks cookie, looks nice and easy too. will make it this week 

[opi2kenopi]

Made this tonight with a combination of pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot and broccoli.  I roasted the orange ones and quickly steamed the broccoli before adding it to the mix.  Delicious, and DS1 ate the lot - yay!  Also plenty of leftovers for DH for lunch tomorrow.  Thanks for posting the conversion.   

[CreamPuff63]

that does look good 

[Frozzie]

not a fan of mac and cheese but might give this one a go once thermie gets back 

[andiesenji]

Can anyone direct me to a site that has a photo of a Queensland blue pumpkin?

I'm wondering if it is similar to anything we have here and am also wondering if I can get seeds.  I grow several varieties of winter squash and pumpkin but this is a new name to me.

[Cuilidh]

Andiesenji, try looking at http://www.google.com.au/search?q=photos+of+queensland+blue+pumpkins&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a for photos of Queensland Blue pumpkins.

[Frozzie]

andie this is a site on the page cuilidh posted that sends internationally, just checked... and im sure there are a few others..i had trouble finding sites that would sent oz seeds overseas...thanks now there is one..woohooo

http://www.egardenseed.com/Queensland_Blue_Squash_Seeds_p/0104.htm

[Cornish Cream]

There is a wonderful seed supplier in the UK that has some interesting pumpkins seeds if you are interested Andie and Frozzie. You probably grow them already Andie 
http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/list.php?type=search&value=Pumpkin

[andiesenji]

Thanks so much for the info links.

I grow Blue Hubbard squash but have not come across a blue pumpkin.

The Hubbards can grow so big and have such a tough hide that it takes an ax or heavy machete to split them.  I saw them in half and pieces on a band saw. 
The largest I ever grew was on a vine that self-seeded at one edge of the compost pile and I picked off most of the flower buds, leaving just a dozen.  The BIG one was 30 inches long and weighed just under 30 pounds.  Even when they are that large, the flesh is still good.
Unlike many squash, the flesh is brittle and breaks apart but is still quite moist so doesn't need water, as do some squash varieties.
A friend who moved to Singapore a few years ago, took some seeds with her and her neighbors are thrilled when she gives the squash away.  Apparently it is something like a squash that used to show up in local markets decades ago but is no longer grown commercially. 
Isn't it interesting how food plants migrate around the world?

[Frozzie]

Oh thanks cc...