INGREDIENTS
1 tsp olive oil                                                   
1½ cups elbow macaroni
1 cup pumpkin puree or butternut squash*
1½ cups cashew nut milk**
1½ cups grated hard cheese (example: Pepper cheese, sharp Cheddar, Swiss, Gruyere, etc.)                
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried mustard powder (or substitute regular mustard)
a pinch of cayenne pepper
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
 
DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Rub the inside of an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with 1 tsp olive oil.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until tender but firm, about 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

  3.  Put the pumpkin and cashew milk into a saucepan and warm over medium heat until simmering. Remove the pan  from heat and stir in 2/3 of the grated cheese, salt, mustard, and cayenne pepper.
  4.  Pour the cheese mixture over the macaroni and stir to combine. Transfer the macaroni and cheese to the baking dish. Scatter the rest of the grated cheese over the top.

  5.  In a small bowl, add olive oil to the bread crumbs and mix until the crumbs are coated. Mix in the Parmesan cheese. Spread the mixture over the top of the macaroni and cheese and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Serve and enjoy immediately.

* How to make homemade pumpkin puree: Peel and seed the pumpkin, cut into chunks. Steam or boil 15 minutes. (Or bake at 190°C. / 375°F. for 40 minutes or until tender.) Remove and puree in a blender. What is not used immediately can be saved in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for future use.
 
** How to make homemade cashew nut milk: Soak 1 cup of raw cashews in hot water for 1 hour. Drain. Put drained, soaked cashews in a high speed blender with 2 cups cold filtered water and blend until smooth and creamy (3-4 minutes). Can use as a substitute for dairy cream, or dilute with one more cup water to make cashew nut milk. Delicious as a dairy substitute in hot and cold cereals; in smoothies, coffee and hot chocolate drinks, or cake and muffin recipes. Keeps in refrigerator about 4 days.

Ingredients

•  2 cups cooked pumpkin puree*
• 1 cup water
• 2 Tb arrowroot powder
• 2 Tb chia seeds
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 Tb rice syrup
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp allspice
• pinch nutmeg and cloves

 
See “How to Make Pumpkin Puree”
 
Directions

1. Dissolve arrowroot powder, rice syrup, and spices in water (or cooled water used to cook the pumpkin). Heat and stir to prevent lumps as it thickens (2-3 minutes).
2. Add pureed pumpkin and chia seeds; stir until well blended.
3. Pour into dessert cups or ramekins and wait 20 minutes for chia seeds to expand, then enjoy warm or cooled.