If you celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend as I did, I'm sure there's no shortage of leftovers kicking around. I found myself with almost every type of squash under the sun and wanted to find new ways to make use of them! Sure, you can roast up a butternut squash, acorn squash or pumpkin and it would be gosh darn delicious, but what if you could turn that roasted pumpkin into Grainless Pumpkin Mac & Cheese? Now we're talkin'!

I had been seeing people make butternut squash mac and cheese as of late, so I figured pumpkin wasn't too far of a leap. Just the thought of a pumpkin mac and cheese sounded so creamy, dreamy and comforting! I'm happy to report, all of those thoughts became true!

I will say that if you have a strong craving for just straight up mac and cheese, this isn't it – in which case, I encourage you to treat yourself to that mac & cheese (more on cravings over here). But if you want to be able to enjoy mac and cheese on the regular and know you'll feel good after eating it, then this Grainless Pumpkin Mac & Cheese totally fits the bill!

What I mean by that is that you can tell the difference between traditional mac and cheese and this alternative. Not in a bad way, but when you aren't using any actual cheese in mac and cheese, well I suppose that speaks for itself. BUT, I will say that the texture and taste are there, thanks to the combination of ingredients (especially nutritional yeast) that make up the sauce.

I just feel the need to preface with that in case you're trying to sell this dish to your anti-healthy food alternatives, haha! Although I will say, I ran the recipe by my recipe tasting boyfriend, Randy, and he gave it a thumbs up!

Because I had way too many pumpkins on hand (okay, I had 2, but still – what's a gal to do with 2 pumpkins when they're done being used as decor?), I decided to roast up the pumpkin but if you're in a time crunch, you can definitely use canned pumpkin.

Just be sure to get canned pumpkin and not canned pumpkin PIE filling. There's a difference and many people (including myself) have made the mistake in the past, so I wanted to give you a heads up!

The benefit of roasting your own pumpkin (over having canned pumpkin) is that the taste is much more delicious and fresh! I haven't personally put canned and fresh side by side but this comparison test had me sold.

Plus, food is typically more nutritious in its fresh form because the nutrients haven't been lost in the process and it hasn't been stored for a long time, like canned pumpkin can be.

Plus plus, you can roast the pumpkin seeds and enjoy snacking on them like I am right now! Perfect fuel for whipping up a blog post :).

With that said, there ain't no food shaming around here! Do what suits you and your lifestyle best!

If you do wish to roast the pumpkin seeds, it's pretty simple! You just have to rinse the pumpkin seeds, lay them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet, dry them with a tea towel or paper towel then drizzle them with olive oil (lightly) and sprinkle them with sea salt. Bake a 350F for 25-30 minutes and ta-dah! Easy protein and fat-fueled snacking to go!

While I don't eat grainless, gluten-free and dairy-free all the time, I prioritize eating whole foods (or what I refer to as #RealAssFood) and I know I feel good when I do that. Plus, I want to make recipes that as many of you can enjoy as possible and keeping it as friendly and open to peoples dietary needs as possible means more of you can enjoy it!

Pumpkins aren't just cute additions to your front porch. They also pack a nutritious punch since they are:

Rich source of fibre (hello, happy poops!)
A powerful source of antioxidants such as beta-carotene which the body converts into vitamin A to support eye health and other systems in the body
Known to help boost immunity, being a great source of vitamin C (super key this time of year!)
Helpful for balancing blood sugar, to slow the rate that sugar is absorbed in the blood and therefore, prevent the energy spike and crash that often comes from simple carbs like bread or sugar.

I also added roasted cauliflower to this for an extra boost of veggie power. Cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower (and brussel sprouts!) are especially great for hormonal imbalance as they help to remove excess estrogen from the body. Since they're in season right now, you'll want to take advantage of them in their cheapest, most delicious and nutritious state!

If you end up making this Grainless Pumpkin Mac & Cheese, be sure to tag me @rachelmmolenda and #RealAssFood on social! Now go on and use up those leftover pumpkins :)

Grainless Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

1 small pumpkin or 3 cups of canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree)
4 cups of chickpea pasta noodles (Chickapea pasta is a good brand)
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 small onion, diced
1 3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil + 2 tbsp avocado oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare two parchment-lined baking sheets: one for the pumpkin and one for the cauliflower.
Chop off top of pumpkin then cut it in half. Using a spoon, scoop out the stringy flesh and seeds. If you wish to roast the pumpkin seeds afterwards, you can set aside the pumpkin seeds. Place each half facing down on the baking sheet.
Prepare the cauliflower by washing and cutting it into small florets. Place onto parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
Place both baking sheets into oven. Bake the pumpkin for 30-35 minutes straight. Bake the cauliflower for 20 minutes then flip florets to ensure all sides get cooked and bake for 10 more minutes, for a total of 30 minutes.
While they bake, saute onion in avocado oil until aromatic or translucent. When done cooking, set aside.
Remove pumpkin and cauliflower from oven when both are done baking and let cool.
While cooling, bring a pot of water to a boil.
While water is boiling, peel off pumpkin skin (it should peel off easily, but if not, you can cut it off) and place into food processor or high-speed blender. Add remaining sauce ingredients to food processor including sauteed onion, almond milk, nutritional yeast, garlic cloves, sea salt and red pepper flakes. Pulse/blend for 20 seconds until smooth. It should be a thick but somewhat runny sauce.
Once water has boiled, add chickpea pasta noodles and cook for 7-8 minutes or until they reach a texture of your liking. Strain out water and add noodles to a big bowl with the cauliflower florets and the cheese sauce. Mix together thoroughly.
Once thoroughly mixed, serve and enjoy. You can top it with microgreens, hemp hearts (extra protein!), fresh sage or pine nuts.