Pumpkin mac & cheese

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Vegetarian Thanksgiving?, yes could be. Side dish?, yes it could be it! Or, is it just my obsession with pumpkins? yes it could be as well!!☺😁 I don’t like any kind of wasting of my pumpkins lol 😂😂 Hi It’s again me, Julia and I got inspired by the pumpkins themselves to make this smashingly good macaroni and cheese and I decided to serve it in the cavity of small pumpkins itself. Don’t you find these so adorable and cute?!?! I am sure you do, so let me tell you how you can prepare this adorable setting at home.

I am so excited to show you this beautiful, decorative setting, which will leave memorable moments in your kitchen and dining room. Every year ,I try to come out with something new and something different. And this time, I just couldn’t leave my kids favorite meal a part. I always had to prepare macaroni and cheese along the turkey dish, macaroni and cheese couldn’t be missed. These easy and kinda working day dish made it’s own space to the center of the table for Thanksgiving. Me and my husband would be having traditional butternut squash and sweet potatoes, green beans and I shouldn’t forget my famous cranberry sauce with Porto wine, You can find recipe for this cranberry sauce here, but for my kids, it’s always mac and cheese. The famous of all!!

Macaroni and cheese are very easy to made. I am sure everyone of us here know how to prepare it, even do the KD box count 😂. Yes, you just simply can prepare it from KD box, if you don’t have time to prepare the mac and cheese from scratch. So for this festive pumpkin mac and cheese you will need macaroni, grated cheese of your choice, butter, some flour, nut meg and some seasoning. Very easy to make. You can also add a bit of bread crumbs on the top, before you put it in the oven. It makes it extra crunchy. And if you choose these seasoned breadcrumbs, it will gives a better flavor. I choose Italian seasoned breadcrumbs with Romano cheese and it gives a perfect kick to this mac and cheese mix.

Yield 4 -6 persons

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• dash of pepper
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 5 cups macaroni or other pasta
• 4 cups warm milk
• 4 ½ cups mixed cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, romano, parmesan), shredded
• Paprika
• 2 tbs of pumpkin puree

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook macaroni,according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat.
3. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually whisk in warm milk.
4. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
5. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer or until thickened and add pumpkin puree.
6. Stir in cheese until melted.
7. Drain macaroni; add to cheese sauce and stir to coat.
8. If desired, sprinkle with paprika.
9. Preheat oven on 375 F/ 180 C.
10. Carve the little pumpkins, remove seeds.
11. Now portion the mac and cheese inside the cavity of pumpkins and sprinkle with seasoned breadcrumbs.
12. Bake for 10-15 minutes or if desired, you can precook the pumpkins itself in the oven for 30-40 minutes, depending on size. Then fill it up with mac and cheese and bake for additional 10-15 minutes.
13. !!Always make sure, that you are using edible pumpkins for this recipe. Keep in mind, that not all pumpkins are edible and they could be used only for decorative purposes. Please do not use these kind of pumpkin for mac and cheese recipe!!

So here is you have the recipe and I hope you will enjoy it. I am sure, that your kids will love eating the mac and cheese from small cute pumpkins. And your family will appreciate this beautiful decor of pumpkins.🌝👍

I wish you the most beautiful, relaxing, but mostly memorable Thanksgiving!!! JuliaRecipes 💕😍🦃