Broccoli, Basil & Squash Mac & Cheese

Have you ever ate quinoa pasta?  I hadn’t either til yesterday and I’d really been missing out.  Brown rice past ia outstanding, but we were ecstatic over this newfound love for elbow shaped macaroni, that was in fact, smushed up quinoa.  Unknown health foods like this is one of the best things about vegetarian.  Discovering unusual, but good for you, foods that aren’t part of normal food habits.  And for only $2 a box (organic, too) I was so thrilled that this pasta was a part of this unreal mac & cheese recipe that I adapted from 101 Cookbooks 🙂

1 box organic quinoa pasta, cooked

3 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash (really small pieces)

1 cup basil leaves

2 cups chopped broccoli

1 1/2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese

1/4 cup plain yogurt

3 slices whole wheat bread, stale or dried in the oven

6 tbsp olive oil, divided

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Place butternut squash on baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tbsp oil
• Cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes
• Meanwhile, pulse half the basil, the broccoli, the bread and 1 tbsp oil in a food processor until chunky (breadcrumb-y texture)
• Heat the cooked pasta in a large saucepan over medium heat and add cheeses, sour cream, remaining basil and black pepper
• Mix for 5 minutes or until everything is well blended and melted
• When squash is done, add to pasta mix and continue stirring for a few minutes (I used a potato mashed when I added the squash to make sure everything was creamy)
• Use the 3 tbsp oil that is left and grease a 13 X 9 casserole dish or baking pan (I only had a large frying pan clean, which worked out great)
• Pour pasta mix into pan or dish, then top with the broccoli/breadcrumb mix
• Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes