A fresh pumpkin becomes comfort food in this Creamy Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

While I cook with butternut squash and other winter squashes all the time, when I think about cooking with pumpkin, I picture a can of puree.

But using fresh pumpkin is just another take on cooking with hard-shelled, cold-weather squash. There is more to those pumpkins than jack-o'-lanterns waiting to be carved!

Few people can resist a creamy, rich stovetop mac and cheese. This one has a bonus dose of color, texture and nutrition thanks to roasted pumpkin and onions, blended right into the pasta. It’s total fall comfort food.

And if you're trying to get more vegetables into the rotation, this might be a nice solution. The pumpkin becomes tender and sweet in the oven, and the onion also caramelizes and adds lovely flavor to the dish. The sweetness of the cooked pumpkin and onion works beautifully against the tangy goat cheese and nutty Parmesan in the sauce.

Pick the right pumpkin

Make sure you are starting with a pumpkin that is meant for cooking, not carving. Many pumpkins, especially the larger ones, have flesh that is stringy and watery, and don’t make for such a great eating or baking experience. You know you are on the right track if you see pumpkins labeled “pie pumpkin” or “sugar pumpkin,” which are denser, sweeter and have a lower water content.

Look for varieties like Cinderella, Baby Bear, Baby Pam, New England Pie Pumpkin, Long Pie or Nantucket Pie, Fairy Tale and the white Lumina pumpkin. Other than the white varieties, the flesh will usually be a rich orange color and have a smooth texture.

Pick a pumpkin somewhere around 4 to 7 pounds. Some good cooking varieties run smaller or larger; this is just an average. A few dings or dents don’t matter; just make sure your pumpkin is very hard, without any soft spots.

The trickiest part of cooking with pumpkin is cutting it. For this recipe, you need to remove the skin, or “peel” the pumpkin. The shell can be very thick and hard, so take your time and use a sharp chef’s knife.

Carefully cut the pumpkin in half through the stem and clean out the seeds and fibrous gunk using a sharp spoon or an ice cream scoop. Use a spoon with sharp edges, such as a metal spoon, to scrape out all of the pulpy stringy insides, including the seeds.

Place each pumpkin half cut-side down on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, slice off two flat panels from the shell, one slice removing the root end, and one slice removing the stem end.

Sit the pumpkin upright on one of these newly flat sides and slowly, carefully working your way around, slice off the skin of the pumpkin, following the pumpkin's shape as best you can. You will lose a bit of the flesh as you go, there’s no way around that. Then the peeled pumpkin flesh will be ready to be cubed for roasting with some onions and sage.

The sauce for this mac and cheese uses some of the pasta cooking water, which will be salted. Therefore, be conservative about adding any more salt until you taste the sauce, since the Parmesan will also add some saltiness and you don’t want to overdo it. After all of the ingredients are blended with the sauce, taste, and see if you want to add more salt.

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to four days. The pasta may get a bit dry in the fridge, so think about adding a little more cream, milk, or even water to the pasta when you reheat it over low heat in a saucepan.

Creamy Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 medium sugar pumpkin about 4 pounds, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks (see above for instructions on peeling and cubing the pumpkin)

2 onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tablespoons torn fresh sage leaves or 1 tablespoon crumbled dried sage

3 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 pound dried pasta shells (small or medium), or other small pasta shape

1 ½ cups heavy cream

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 ½ cups crumbled goat cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the pumpkin, onion, and sage on a rimmed baking sheet, then drizzle the olive oil over it and toss everything, then spread it out in a single layer. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast for about 35 minutes until the pumpkin and onions are tender and lightly browned.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, and drain the pasta.

Place ¾ cup of the cooking water and the cream back in the pasta cooking pot and heat over medium high heat just until little bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Whisk in the Parmesan and the goat cheese until the cheeses are melted. Season with pepper.

Return the pasta to the pan and stir until coated with the sauce. Add the cooked pumpkin and onions to the pan and toss to combine. Add the rest of the cooking water if the pasta seems dry. Taste to see if it needs additional salt. Serve hot.

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Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at https://themom100.com/. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.