I may be alone here but I DO NOT love pumpkin spice. It seems to be everywhere this time of year. In the coffee, in the cookies, in the yogurt, in the cereal. Everywhere. Everywhere sweet at least, and that may be what I don’t love about it because alternately, I DO love pumpkin! I have great recipes that call for roasted pumpkin, soups that use pumpkin as a thickener, and stew recipes in which I replace potatoes with pumpkin this time of year. I think that might be one of my favorite things about pumpkin, it’s versatility. I even give it to my puppies mixed in with their food to help their digestion since they’re getting up there in years.

Canned pumpkin is a great pantry staple for its versatility but it’s also a healthy choice. It allows you to enjoy the health benefits associated with pumpkin flesh without the process of selecting, baking, and pureeing pumpkin yourself. It’s low in calories, only 82 calories per cup, but offers lots of nutritional value in the form of fiber, potassium and magnesium which are good for your metabolism and heart function, and vitamins A and K which is good news for your immune system and blood.

So, with all the healthy parts that pumpkin contributes to your diet, what if we made it rich, gooey, and just a tad less healthy but adding it to macaroni and cheese! To be frank, it’s too delicious to stopme. The pumpkin adds a richness that traditional mac and cheese recipes don’t have and it just simply feels like fall to have the comfort of mac and cheese with a little pumpkin flair. I typically make double and freeze half of it so that we’ll have it throughout the season even when I don’t feel like cooking.

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

• 1 lb. penne or elbow macaroni
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 3 Tbsp. flour 
• 3 C. milk 
• 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 C. shredded parmesan
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 ½ C. pumpkin puree 
• 3 C. shredded mozzarella
• 16 oz. container of ricotta 
• 2 tsp. sage
   
  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta in salted water for 1 minute less than the package directions and drain. While the pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Slowly add the milk in thirds, whisking continuously until smooth. Add the garlic and simmer until thick, approximately 20 minutes. Stir in parmesan until melted then add the nutmeg and salt & pepper to taste. Stir in the pumpkin puree, then add 2 C. of the mozzarella and stir until melted. Finally, add the ricotta and sage and stir to combine. Stir in cooked pasta. Pour into a greased oven proof dish and sprinkle the final C. of mozzarella over the top. Bake 20 minutes until brown and bubbly.