Gruyere melts more evenly off the heat; a bubbling bean-and-pumpkin sauce can make the cheese split and turn oily. The sauce is already hot when it reaches the pasta, so boiling the cheese buys you grease, not speed.
Main DishesWhole-Wheat Mac and Cheese with Pumpkin and White Beans
Pumpkin and white beans blend into a thick sauce that coats the macaroni, while Gruyere melts in at the end. Mustard and nutmeg give the sauce a sharper, warmer edge.
Ingredients
For the macaroni
For the sauce
- Yellow ready-to-serve mustard sauce 5g Nutrition & impact details for Yellow ready-to-serve mustard sauce
Preparation Steps
Cook the pumpkin and onion
Dice the pumpkin and quarter the onion. Boil them in water over medium-high heat for 12–15 minutes, until a knife slips easily through the pumpkin and the onion is tender. Lift them out with a slotted spoon. You can alternatively cook it in the oven on 200 degrees celsius for about 30 minutes with a splash of olive oil.
Cook the macaroni
Bring the same water back to a boil and cook the whole wheat macaroni according to the packet, until firm-tender. Reserve some cooking water, then drain the macaroni.
Blend the sauce
Blend the hot pumpkin and onion with the drained white beans, garlic powder, salt, ground nutmeg and mustard, gradually adding the reserved pasta water. Blend until no bean pieces remain and the sauce is thick but pourable, coating a spoon evenly; if it leaves a stiff mound on a spoon, blend again with more of the reserved water.
Coat the pasta and melt the cheese
Return the macaroni to the pot over low heat and stir in the sauce until it coats the pasta and is hot throughout. Turn off the heat, add the grated Gruyere and stir until melted and glossy. Serve before the sauce thickens.
Recipe insights
How to keep the Gruyere sauce smooth
Can you make pumpkin mac and cheese with less Gruyere?
To halve the Gruyere, use 85 g cheese, 70 g extra boiled white beans and 15 g nutritional yeast. Blend the extra beans into the sauce, then stir in the yeast with the remaining cheese. The beans maintain the sauce’s thickness, while the yeast adds a savory note; neither needs to pass for Gruyere.
Pulses 101 for children
Including pulses in your diet can be a challenge if you have young children. They tend to become very suspicious of any kind of legume you try to serve them. So hiding them in a sauce is a big win for everyone: I don’t have to beg them to eat the meal I served, and they enjoyed it so much that they asked for more.
Just try to hide the beans well so they don’t reject the meal outright.
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