Pumpkin Mac & Cheese
Grana Padano pumpkin mac & cheese
As an Italian from Italy (I know!) I never had a mac & cheese growing up, so I didn’t know what it was. It was only when I started travelling that I found out that the “mac” stands for macaroni (aka maccheroni for an Italian) and that this dish was simply a naughtier version of our homely “pasta al forno” (baked pasta).
Now, I’ve seen many mac & cheese recipes online that were so sad, they didn’t even have real cheese in the ingredients list, so I had to provide my thoughts !
Here it is a more Italianised and seasonal take on this worldwide dish with the addition of pumpkin and Italian sausage and using my favourite Italian cheese, Grana Padano.
Chef’s tips: This recipe works well even in smaller portions without the whole pumpkin but if you want to impress your guests, make sure you adjust the cooking time according to the size of your pumpkin. This is the time to use your chef’s instinct!
Serves: 6/8 people // Prep Time: 30 minutes // Cooking Time: 2 h – depending on the size of the pumpkin
Ingredients
500 g maccheroni of your choice
1 medium-large pumpkin (between 4-5 kg of weight)
2 garlic cloves
1 sprig of sage
1 onion, chopped
500 g Italian sausages
250 g of spinach leaves
100 ml of dry white wine
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
30 g of unsalted butter
250 g of diced fiordilatte mozzarella (optional)
Extra Grana Padano to grate on top
2 tbsp of breadcrumbs
A few sage leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
For the Grana Padano béchamel
750ml of milk (warm, if possible)
60g of butter
60 g of plain flour
400 g of grated Grana Padano
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Wash the pumpkin and open it from the top. Make sure you remove enough of the pumpkin so that you have a nice big cavity to stuff with the pasta later on.
Remove all of the seeds and the mushy flesh and season the pumpkin with salt, pepper, olive oil, sage leaves and crushed garlic. Now cover with foil and bake at 180C
for at least 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and keep cooking for another 30 minutes. The pumpkin needs to be soft and cooked through but not too wet. It should have a nice golden colour on the outside. When ready, remove the garlic and sage leaves and put them to one side.
Peel the pumpkin flesh left from the cap that you didn’t bake and dice into 2cm cubes.
Start by preparing the béchamel. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add in the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes while stirring, on a medium heat until the roux (mix of butter and flour) is golden. Then pour in the milk and bring to the boil, while whisking vigorously. Boil for 2 minutes and then remove from the heat. The béchamel should be now ready, creamy and with no lumps. Stir in the grated Grana Padano cheese, until smooth. Season carefully with salt (as the cheese will have already made the béchamel tasty) and a little black pepper. Set aside.
Remove the skin and chop the sausages. In a large pot, brown the sausage meat with a drizzle of oil. When the meat starts to colour add the chopped onion, the chopped pumpkin and a knob of butter. Cook everything on medium heat and when golden pour in the white wine. Let the alcohol evaporate and when everything is cooked through remove from the heat.
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water following the packet instruction until “al dente”. Drain and toss into the sausage and pumpkin ragu. Mix well adding a splash of pasta water and the fresh chopped spinach. The remaining heat will cook it.
Now add the Grana Padano cheese sauce and mix well. At this stage season to taste and optionally, for extra gooiness you can add chopped mozzarella.
Now fill the pumpkin cavity with the creamy mac and cheese and place any left-over in a greased baking tray. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and plenty of grated Grana Padano for a crispy crust and bake again at 180C for about 15 minutes or until golden on top. Feel free to use the grill option on your oven to speed up the process.