Cheesy Pump(kin)ed Up Shells

Funny story. Once upon a time, I was a vegetarian. And not just a vegetarian. Somehow, my enlightened, college-educated brain decided to shun all dairy products as well. That lasted a whopping 3 months, but my veggie stint lasted about 2 1/2 years, surprisingly enough. Yes, I managed to go three. whole. months. without cheese…torture!

Now, every time I eat bacon, or a hamburger, or even a piece of grilled chicken I wonder what the heck I was thinking! Before anyone gets up on their vegetarian soap box, please understand that I make sure to eat lots and lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grains. And every once in a while, a huge-ass hamburger!

Where was I? Oh yeah. Cheese.

Macaroni & cheese might just be one of the greatest meals ever invented. Amirite? You can’t beat homemade mac n’ cheese…or so I thought!

Taking some inspiration from Jenna’s recipe, I crafted a most delicious variation of the American favorite.

Cheesy Pump(kin)ed Up Shells

Ingredients

16 oz shell pasta
3 tbsp butter (salted or un)
3 tbsp flour
4 c milk (any type but skim, since it cooks strangely)
16 oz grated cheese (I used white cheddar, and a random ShopRite 4 cheese blend)
1 c pumpkin puree
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ nutmeg
½ tsp chili powder
3/4 c breadcrumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook pasta, drain, and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat and add the flour. Whisk together and cook for thirty seconds.
Add 2 cups of milk and minced rosemary. Whisk until smooth. Add another cup of milk and continue to whisk for 5 minutes until mixture thickens.
Add 3/4 of the grated cheese and stir until cheese is nice and ooey gooey!
Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and chili powder, the last cup of milk, and the pumpkin puree.
Once everything is smooth, add the pasta and toss well.
Pour into a 9″13″ casserole pan and top with the leftover grated cheese and the breadcrumbs.
Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and bubbling!

Oh, and a little tip? Don’t grate the nutmeg directly over the pot of bubbling, hot, cheesy sauce. I sort of made that mistake, got a little grater-happy, and wound up dropping my nutmeg. I then spent the better part of 5 minutes swirling a spoon around trying to find and extract it. Oops!

What would Martha do!? Never grate over a pot, that’s for sure.

And whenever I’m indulging in something as insanely calorie-laden and delicious as this, I always like to “balance” it out with some sort of vegetable. Case in point: we enjoyed these cheesy shells with heaping sides of steamed broccoli, seasons with a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic powder.