I love the fall flavors, and I use them whenever I can throughout the year. Butternut squash and sage are two ingredients that pack a lot of fall flavored into a dish, and they are two ingredients that work very well together. I wondered how nicely they would play together with cheese in a mac and cheese dish. It turns out they play pretty nicely together, so I figured I would share this recipe with the masses.
I used small shell pasta but traditional macaroni noodles could also be used. The sauce begins with fried sage and garlic before the butternut squash and additional spices are added. It is finished with milk and white cheddar before the noodles are stirred in. It’s a fairly simple recipe that could be used as weeknight meal. It’s a meatless dish, but very filling, and it can easily stand on its own as a main course!
Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
4 sprigs of sage leaves
4 cloves garlic, minced
1¼ lbs (or 20 oz) butternut squash, cubed
1 - 1½ cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 tbsp plus ½ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp ground sage
¼ tsp ground oregano
¼ tsp paprika
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
12 oz white cheddar cheese
1 lb dried small shells or dried macaroni noodles
Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add in the sage leaves. Fry the sage leaves in the butter until they crisp up (but not burn), flipping them over as needed. When both sides are crisped, remove the sage leaves from the pot and reserve them on a plate.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the garlic. Cook for 30 second to a minute. Add the butternut squash followed by the stock. Stir. Allow the squash to simmer for 10-15 minutes until completely soft.
Add ½ tsp of salt, ½ tsp ground sage, ¼ tsp ground oregano, and ¼ tsp paprika. Stir again to incorporate the spices into the squash.
Remove the Dutch oven from the heat, purée the squash using an immersion blender until the contents of the pot are completely smooth. Add the milk and stir to blend the milk into the squash purée.
Turn the heat to a lower setting and return the Dutch oven to the heat. Allow the squash mixture to heat for about 2-3 minutes. Stir as needed to avoid popping and splattering.
Add the white cheddar cheese and cornstarch to a bowl. Toss them together by hand to coat the cheese with the cornstarch. Add the cheese to the squash mixture and stir until the cheese is fully incorporated into the mixture. Allow it to cook on low for small additional 3-5 minutes until it thickens.
Fill a medium stock pot about halfway with water, and bring it to a rapid simmer over medium or medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons of salt and stir to dissolve into the water. Adjust the temperature to maintain a rapid simmer and add the dried pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente, roughly 10-12 minutes.
When the pasta is done, drain the pasta into a colander. Add the pasta to the squash sauce and stir to fully coat the noodles in the sauce.
To serve, add a portion of the pasta to a bowl and garnish with some of the fried sage leaves.