Making Macaroni Healthful

B and I stumbled upon this recipe on the food network website and made a couple of adaptations of our own to it. I thought I would share it with you guys for your eating pleasure :)

I loved eating it and knowing that some yummy squash was tucked away in there!

B of course "doctored it up" with a little bit of hot sauce, but we both were big fans of this super easy dish!

enjoy :)

Ingredients:

1 lb. elbow macaroni

1 butternut squash or other large yellow squash, boiled & pureed

2 cups low fat milk

1 1/4 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1 tsp. powdered mustard

1/4 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. olive oil

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Set oven to 350. Bring macaroni to a boil for about 5-8 minutes. Strain and set aside in a large bowl. Meanwhile, simmer the pureed butternut squash over medium heat, stirring in two cups of milk. Once the mixture is quite hot, but not boiling, remove from heat and stir in the cheeses, mustard, paprika and salt. Combine with the macaroni and pour into a 9 X 13 baking dish. In a small bowl combine olive oil, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle evenly over the macaroni dish. Cook in oven for 20 minutes, set the temperature to broil for an extra 3 minutes to brown the bread crumbs.

*B and I added a pound of lean ground beef, seasoned with paprika and red pepper to the dish to make it a more hearty meal for my carnivore husband! It was really yummy!