Comforting Pumpkin “Mac” and Cheese

The nights are drawing in and cozy socks are needed. Woolly jumpers, big coats and walking with little kids as they jump in piles of leaves. It is autumn and autumn is awesome. And my favourite thing about autumn is pumpkin. Pumpkins are the best and for most of my life all I have done with the best bits of a pumpkin is scoop them out and bin them. So silly! But now I have wised up to their yumminess and here is my favourite recipe to do with the deliciousness that is pumpkin. This is pure autumnal comfort, like a hug on a plate.

How to prep the pumpkin (the easy way)

Take a pumpkin, with a very sharp knife cut it in half, spoon out the seed, turn each half upside-down on a large baking tray, with an edge (it does piss out quite a bit of liquid which you can use as stock if you collect it up) and roast in the oven until the skin goes dark orange. Let it cool until you can handle it and then scoop out the flesh and puree it.

The recipe…

6 rashers of Smoky Bacon, all fat removed and cut into match sticks

2 cloves of Garlic, crushed

450g pureed Pumpkin

a pinch of Salt

400ml skimmed milk

250ml Stock

80g Light Cheddar, grated

90g Parmesan, grated

500g Penne

Fry the bacon and garlic in frylight in a saucepan, stir until cooked and then take them out of the pan and set to one side.

Put the pureed pumpkin into the saucepan with the milk and stock, heat until it starts to simmer and then chuck in half the cheddar and the parmesan. Keep stirring until the cheese melts and then throw in the bacon and the pasta. Simmer for 10mins.

Pop it all into a lasagne dish and cover with the rest of the cheddar. Whack it in the oven until it is golden on the top and munch.

*I added sweetcorn to the one in the picture

Thanks for reading

xx