Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese Recipe

By Chef Kelly Unger

Enjoy my healthy Mac & Cheese recipe using sweet potatoes. Note that you can also substitute butternut squash, acorn squash and baby butternuts for the sweet potatoes OR use them all in combination. I’m also including a delicious recipe for a French pear tart. Add wine, a Nord baguette, some cheese and you’ve got a delicious Fall weekend menu right here! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 large sweet potatoes, diced
• 4-6 cups vegetable broth (chicken can be used)
• 2 large carrots, large dice
• 1 large onion, large dice
• Olive oil, salt and pepper
• 1 cup milk (cashew preferred), plus more if needed
• About 1 pound or 8 servings of dry pasta – gemelli, small penne, bowtie or fusilli work best
• About 1 cup (plus more if desired) shredded cheddar cheese or your favorite blend

Steps:

1. Sauté the diced onion in a large soup pot in some olive oil until it is browned, add the sweet potatoes, carrots, about a teaspoon of salt, some grinds of pepper and 4 cups of the broth. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover the pot and cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are well cooked.
2. In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. When the sweet potatoes are cooked, take the pot off the heat and using an immersion blender, puree the mixture, adding a little more broth if necessary, to make a very thick sauce. Once fully pureed, add some cashew milk to thin the sauce to a tomato sauce like consistency. Taste the sauce and adjust the spices if necessary. Return the pot to the stove and heat it back up to a simmer, cover it and turn the heat to low to keep it hot while you cook the pasta.
4. Cook the pasta in the boiling salted water until it is al dente. Drain the pasta but not fully, leave a little pasta water in the bottom of the pot – about ½ cup (or you can remove ½ to 1 cup of pasta water just before draining if you find that easier) and immediately add the reserved hot sauce, one ladle full at a time, stirring constantly to incorporate, until all of the pasta is well coated with sauce and the mixture is a little soupy. Immediately pour the mixture into a 13×9 casserole dish and top with the amount of cheese of your preference. Place the casserole into the over on the top rack to brown the cheese – about 10 minutes.