Broccoli-Basil Mac and Cheese

There was no way to make this look attractive. We tried...

This dish is kinda crazy and totally delicious. Like traditional mac and cheese, it certainly falls in the comfort food category, but it’s so much more complex (in a good way). You can actually taste the individual ingredients, but they go together really well. It’s hard to describe. Try it. You’ll like it.

(Adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

1 delicata squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

olive oil

bunch of basil leaves (a couple handfuls)

1 pint grape tomatoes

2 slices of hearty bread (we used Udi’s Gluten-Free Millett-Chia bread)

1 small head of broccoli, roughly chopped

4 tbsp. fat-free sour cream

1 ¾ cups shredded white cheddar cheese

1 ¾ cups shredded Gruyere cheese

1 package brown rice penne or macaroni (if you’re not gluten-free, go with whole wheat noodles)

1. Preheat oven to 400° and make sure you’ve got a rack set in the center.

2. Place the squash on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with olive oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the squash is golden brown.

3. Place bread on a baking sheet and put it in the oven for a couple minutes. The goal is to stale-ify (ie. dry out) the bread, not toast it.

4. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, cheddar and gruyere. Set aside.

5. Combine the now-stale bread, the broccoli, half the basil and a “glug” of olive oil in a food processor. Pulse until it’s a fine crumb mixture.

6. Transfer the crumb mixture to a bowl and set aside. Rinse the food processor.

7. Toss the rest of the basil and all of the grape tomatoes into the food processor. Pulse until it’s well-mixed.

8. Add the tomato-basil mixture to the cheese and sour cream mixture. Stir to combine.

9. Cook the pasta until it’s al dente. Drain (reserving a little pasta water, just in case).

10. Dump the pasta into a casserole dish. Add the squash and the cheese mixture. Stir it up until the cheese sauce coats the pasta and the squash is evenly distributed. (If you prefer a runnier cheese sauce, add the reserved pasta water.)

11. Top with the green breadcrumbs and bake until the breadcrumbs are crunchy, about 25 minutes.