Whole Wheat Spinach Mac n Cheese with Broiled Tomatoes

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Total: 45 min
  • Prep: 10 min
  • Inactive: 10 min
  • Cook: 25 min
The pumpkin puree in the mac n cheese adds fiber, as well as body and color, so less cheese is needed
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Ingredients

8 ounces whole-grain medium shell pasta

4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise

2 tablespoons whole wheat breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

One 12-ounce can nonfat evaporated milk

1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Cheddar

1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 cups baby spinach (about 3 ounces)

2 cups grapes

Directions

  1. Preheat the broiler to high.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the shells and cook according to package directions. Drain, reserving some of the pasta water and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, arrange the tomatoes, cut-side up, on baking sheet and broil until wrinkled and soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Combine the breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon of the oil and the Italian seasoning. Sprinkle over the tomatoes. Continue to broil until golden brown, about 1 minute.
  4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and garlic, stirring until the flour turns light brown, about 1 minute. Add the pumpkin puree and evaporated milk, bring to a simmer, stirring, and cook until sauce just begins to bubble and thickens, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the Cheddar, mozzarella and Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Stir until melted, about 1 minute.
  5. Add the spinach and stir until wilted, about 1 minute. Add the cooked pasta and stir until coated, thin out with the reserved pasta water as desired. Divide the mac n cheese, tomatoes and grapes among four plates.

Let's Get Cooking!

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Anonymous

This was really good. I see a few people mention it was bland. Rather than serving everything separately as the recipes states, try mixing it all together. I chopped up the tomatoes, sliced the grapes in half to release their juices and threw them in the pot, it was absolutely delicious. Who would have thought pumpkin, cheese, tomatoes and grapes could ever be in the same recipe lol. I'll definitely be making this again.

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