Recipe Box, Loaded Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

the Painted Apron

6 years ago

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers as Hurricane Michael approaches the Gulf Coast… we had a normal, fun, summer like weekend just a few days ago, when Hurricane Michael was barely a blip on the radar near Belize…

But with favorable conditions, things can quickly escalate, and we spent Sunday securing everything as well as possible and headed north

This photo was taken yesterday morning from my neighbor’s pier showing how high the water was already…our pier was almost under water then, no telling what’s going on now!

We are lucky, we have another home to go to, we have insurance, and at this point there is really nothing we can do but hope and pray…hurricanes are very tricky, you never know what can happen…

Please keep everyone in harm’s way in your prayers this week, and this is a great time to enjoy some fall comfort food!

Oh lordy lordy, this can almost make me forget that our beloved paradise is in a hurricane’s path

There are a couple of simple prep steps that really take this dish over the top in flavor

First, poach the chicken in chicken broth by bringing it to a boil, then covering the pan and turning off the heat. As the burner cools down the chicken will gently poach and after 20 minutes, it will be juicy and tender

Note: you must use chicken tenders, or cut boneless breasts into smaller pieces or it will take longer to cook. If your chicken doesn’t quite cook all the way, no worries, it will finish during baking

While chicken is cooking, cook the bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet, for 15-20 minutes until crisp and cooked through. Use a spoon to scoop up about 1 Tablespoon of bacon fat and set it aside

Remove chicken from broth, but don’t discard broth. Add the pasta to the broth in the sauce pan with additional kosher salt. Bring to a boil, stir, and cover. Again, turn off burner and let pasta sit on the burner. As the burner cools down the pasta will gently cook. You can leave your pasta like this for 10 minutes or up to an hour or more, and it will be perfectly cooked whenever you are ready for it

You won’t believe how much flavor the pasta gains by cooking in the broth! It’s good enough to eat plain, I kept sneaking bites!

If you use a multi surface pasta like rotini, it really grabs and holds the sauce, making the pasta taste even better

The dreamy, creamy, pumpkin sauce is simple to make, melt the reserved bacon grease in the bottom of the sauce pan {use the same one you’ve been using, no need to wash it}. Pour the broth from the pan into another container and set aside

You can use 1 cup of this same broth for the sauce or use a fresh cup of broth. Discard or save the extra broth for another use

Once the bacon grease has melted, add the rest of the sauce ingredients

Season the sauce with cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to blend and thicken, then add the cheese

Chop the chicken and bacon

Now put the pasta, chicken and bacon {save some bacon for garnish if desired} into the sauce in the pan

Stir it well and transfer it to a deep casserole dish {3 quart with lid}

Sprinkle with more cheese and cover. Can be refrigerated at this point for up to 24 hours

Bake at 325, covered for 45-60 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Baking time will depend on temperature of dish

Don’t be put off by the length of the recipe, it’s very easy to make, and oh so worth it!

Loaded Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword mac & cheese, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin mac & cheese, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin puree

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Servings 6

Ingredients

8 oz macaroni rotini, or spiral pasta
8 slices bacon
1 lb boneless chicken tenders
4 cups chicken broth divided
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 T kosher salt
salt & pepper
4 oz. Italian blend grated cheese or Parmesan

Instructions

Roast bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet at 350 for 15-20 minutes, checking often near the end of cooking time, and remove from oven when crisp. Drain on paper towels and reserve 1 T bacon drippings from pan by using a spoon to scoop it up from the parchment.
While bacon is cooking, put 3 cups of chicken broth in large sauce pan.
Add chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to boil. Cover pan and turn burner off, leaving chicken on the burner.
After 20 minutes remove chicken from broth and put it on a safe cutting surface.
Add 1 T of kosher salt and pasta to broth in sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once pasta is boiling, cover pan and turn burner off, leaving pan on burner. Let pasta sit for at least 10 minutes to soften and absorb broth.
While pasta is cooking chop the chicken and bacon.
Drain pasta and set aside. Place reserved bacon grease in pasta pan.
Put pan back on burner on medium heat. When grease has melted add remaining 1 cup chicken broth, pumpkin and cream.
Stir to blend and thicken. Season with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Add 3 oz. cheese and stir until melted.
Return pasta to pan with sauce and stir in cooked chicken and bacon. Transfer mixture to a greased 3 quart baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Cover and refrigerate until baking.
Bake covered at 325 degrees for 45-60 minutes until hot and bubbly. Cooking time will depend on temperature of dish at baking time. Reheat leftovers covered at 300 degrees or microwave individual portions.

This recipe was inspired by Chicken Bacon Pumpkin Pasta Bake from A Pinch of Yum, I added chicken and bacon to my own original pumpkin sauce which was first used in another delicious pasta dish,

Pumpkin Pasta with Italian Sausage & Ham