Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese

Pin It

Enter fall. 

 Enter Steamin' Hot Sweet Potatoes.

Enter a trio of creamy cheeses.

 Enter Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese.
Yes, that is potatoes ON pasta.
With cheese.
These cheeses cheese cheeses (google now: cheese plural):

Rich Creamy Goat Cheese, Brie de Meaux (sans rind) & Belgian Gouda Cheese.

Is it just me, or is the word cheese is starting to weird you out, too? Cheese, cheese, cheese.  Okay, now, I am questioning how you even spell cheese.   Chease?  Cheeze? :)  Cheese?  Yes, it's definitely Cheese.

Enter Paul.  

"Hey Paul, how do you spell cheese?"  

"There is no a," Paul confirms. 

"What about a z?" I ask, half-jokingly. 

He offers me a dumb look.  I guess that's a no?

Phew, here I thought I was losing it.

Back to the Sweet Potato Mac and Squeeze (I can't bear to type the "c" word on more time).

Bring pureed sweet potato and milk to an "almost" boil, then gently fold in the cheese.  Once cheese is melted and sauce has a consistent texture, add in a pinch of nutmeg (optional) and some salt and pepper.  Add noodles, and serve.

The only thing time consuming about this recipe is baking the sweet potatoes, but I suspect you could do this the night before, maybe while you are already baking something else for even more efficiency.  If baked ahead of time, this would be an easy week night meal.

The sauce, a little sweet and perfectly savory, was a nice change from the usual mac and cheese sauce. 

I would imagine this to be a good way to sneak in veggies for the kids, especially since sweet potatoes offer so many great health benefits.  Based on looks alone, no one would suspect this orange pasta sauce to be full of vitamins and antioxidants.

Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese
as adapted from Healthy Food for Living

serves 4

Ingredients:
8 oz uncooked macaroni (or pasta of choice)
3 sweet potatoes (or ~1.5 c pureed sweet potato)
1 c milk (I used almond because that is what we had)
2/3 c Goat Cheese
1/2 c Brie (without rind)
1/2 c Gouda
pinch of nutmeg
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Directions:
Bake Sweet Potatoes, pierced with a fork, at 425 F for1 hour, or until flesh is soft.  Remove flesh and puree (I just mashed with a fork).  Cook pasta according to directions to al dente.  In a saucepan heat sweet potato puree and milk to a slow boil.  Reduce heat and add cheese.  Mix until texture is consistent.  Add a pinch of nutmeg (if desired) and a dash of salt and pepper.  Fold in noodles.  Serve.  Add Salt and pepper as desired.

Bon Appétit!

  Pin It