Butternut macaroni cheese

The creamiest macaroni cheese in the land. Butternut squash brings sweetness and adds a bonus one of your five-aday!

Serves 4 Cooking time: 45 mins

INGREDIENTS

1 medium butternut squash Olive oil

560 ml whole milk

1½ tbsp plain flour

2 tsp Dijon mustard 500 g macaroni

300g Cheddar cheese 200g Parmesan cheese Fresh sage

Fresh rosemary salt and pepper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C regular oven).

Peel a butternut squash and cut it into cubes. Place in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast in the hot oven for 25 minutes (until soft, not browning though).

When the butternut is ready, take two-thirds of it and add to a blender. Pour the milk into the blender too, and blitz until smooth.

Place a large saucepan on the heat. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and the flour. Whisk it together until the flour is absorbed by the oil. At this point, start gradually adding your blended butternut mix, whisking constantly. Once mixed in, add the mustard.

Cook the macaroni in a separate pan following the instructions on the packet.

Finely grate both of the cheeses into the butternut sauce, add 3 chopped sage leaves and a small handful of chopped rosemary. Mix them in. Then chuck in the remaining one-third of the roasted cubed butternut.

Drain your macaroni, and then add it to the butternut squash pan. Mix it all together. Cheese time. Add the cheese, but save enough to sprinkle over the macaroni before going in the oven.

Fold the cheese in. Once it has melted, remove the pan from the heat. Pour the macaroni into a baking dish. Sprinkle your leftover cheese on top. Add some sage and rosemary leaves, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Place under the grill (broiler) for 3–4 minutes, keeping an eye on it so the cheese doesn’t burn.

When the cheese is nicely browned, remove the dish from the grill. Dole up and tuck in!

Both recipes adapted from Mob Kitchen by Ben Lebus, Pavilion