Ingredients: Squash (either a fresh squash cooked just like Spaghetti Squash, then pureed, or a 12oz box of frozen winter squash), whole wheat flour, milk, butter, cheese (any type, grated), pepper, mustard, red pepper flakes, cumin, nutmeg, and whole wheat pasta of your choice.
Please note that I will never, ever give up the Oxford Comma.
1. Melt 2Tb of butter over medium heat. Stir in 2Tb of flour, cooking until slightly browned.
2. Slowly add 1 Cup of room temperature or warm milk, stirring constantly until smooth. Congratulations, you've made a roux. For some reason, making a roux makes me feel like I'm cooking for real, like a pioneer. Or someone without canned soup. For the record, if you ever want to replace canned Cream of X soup in a recipe, make a roux.
3. Add in the squash, again stirring until smooth.
4. Turn down the heat so the mixture is hot but not boiling. Add 2 cups of cheese, a handful at a time, stirring until each one is melted.
5. Add the spices: a Tablespoon of mustard, a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, a few turns of freshly ground black pepper, a teaspoon of cumin, a half teaspoon of nutmeg.
Fun fact: too much nutmeg (like, a cup of it) can kill you.
Before I was feeding a toddler, I would have also added hot sauce, so feel free to add it if you like a little kick. Same goes with salt; I don't like too much salt in my food, and cheese already has some salt to it. So if you want, add some salt.
6. Test the cheese sauce. I recommend using a tortilla chip. Incidentally, this makes an awesome cheesy dip. Adjust spices as needed.
7. Pour over cooked noodles (about a pound). Mix it up and enjoy!
It took several tries, but I finally got a picture where you could see the steam. Mmmmmmm.
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