My Favorite Things: Guilt Free Mac n' Cheese

My friend Cassie posted a pretty amazing recipe for a grown up mac n' cheese the other day on her blog, and it really got me jonesin' for the mac. This is a problem since I am on strict self inflicted orders to refrain from such indulgences these days in an attempt to shed some of the weight I gained as a cripple. Luckily, I have this little beauty of a recipe to scratch the itch without having to feel super guilty about it afterwards.

Ladies and Gentlemen (are there gentlemen reading this!?)

I bring you my Healthy Mac n' Cheese

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Pasta- I prefer something like a shell or elbow to hold up to the sauce, but whatever you like will do

1 cup frozen butternut squash puree thawed- you can get this in the frozen food aisle, but get the puree rather than the cubes

1 cup soy milk

1 cup good parmigiano reggiano grated

1 cup low fat cheddar (or another yellow cheese) grated plus 3 tablespoons extra

1 tsp dry mustard powder

1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp Chalula hot sauce- I actually put in more like 1 tablespoon but I like things a bit spicey-er

Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350, boil a pot of water to cook pasta shells, and put a large sauté pan on low heat.

2. Heat thawed butternut squash puree in the saute pan, add soy milk, parmesan and the cup of cheddar cheese stirring together until combined into a creamy sauce. Meanwhile cook pasta until al dente.

3. Add salt, pepper, mustard, worcestershire, chalula off heat to taste.

4. Combine cheesey sauce and pasta, make sure the pasta is really coated, and put into a baking dish. Sprinkle additional 3 tbspns of cheddar on top and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese on top is melty and delish.

This is one of my favorite recipes, it is much healthier than most mac n cheeses without the cream and with less cheese, but you really don't miss it because of the butternut squash puree. Even if you hate vegetables or aren't a particularly healthy eater, you will like this. I served it once to a strict anti-vegetarian and he loved it and had no idea it had squash in it at all!

Enjoy!