I made you an enormous pan of roasted veggies!
And…I might have whipped up a little mac and cheese to go with them.
(Or wait, was it the reverse?)
Either way, I’ve been craving comfort food galore lately while freezing my tail off this winter in Kansas City. And when it comes to comfort food, it goes without saying that mac and cheese will forever and always have a spot at the top of that list. But hey, when it comes to getting my veggie quotient for the day, it probably also goes without saying that roasted veggies are at the top of that list. So a few weeks ago, I decided to bring together the best of both worlds. And this creamy, colorful, oh-so-comforting pot of roasted veggie mac and cheese was born.
Actually, some of you long-time blog followers may recognize this recipe from way back in 2012 when I first shared it here on the blog. It’s been one of my favorites for years, and when I made another batch of it for dinner a few weeks ago (along with my new Kale Caesar Salad recipe), I decided to snap some new pics along the way to give it this recipe a little 2016 update.
As you can see, the recipe is just as good and vibrant and delicious as ever. :)
To make it, simply roast up a huge pan (or I actually spaced my veggies out onto two pans) of your favorite veggies, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Then while the veggies are roasting, whip up my favorite simple (and healthier!) mac and cheese recipe. It uses evaporated 2% milk instead of heavy cream or sour cream, and is super quick and easy to make. The one tip I’d give is to just use the sharpest cheese you can find for extra flavor (I used a sharp white cheddar this time). And always always be sure to freshly grate a block of cheese rather than buy the pre-shredded stuff (otherwise it may not melt well).
Just cook up some of your favorite pasta, stir in the milk sauce mixture, and then add in your shredded cheese and stir it until it’s 100% melted…
…and then add in those gorgeous roasted veggies. Just look at all of that color!!
As always, this cheesy sauce seemed to totally disappear once it got behind a camera (so weird how cheesy sauces do that). But I swear, these noodles and veggies are coated in a thick and creamy and oh-so-cheesy sauce that you’re going to love. Well really, I’m pretty sure you’re just going to love the whole thing.
So cheers to comfort food with a healthier twist! And for anyone else stuck in the midst of your own snowmageddons, I hope this keeps you nice and warm!
Roasted Vegetable Macaroni & Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 large red bell pepper, cored and diced
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 yellow squash, de-stemmed and diced
- 1 small head of broccoli florets, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 (8-ounce) package button or baby portabella mushrooms, quartered
- 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 head garlic, cloves peeled
- 1 (12-ounce) can 2% evaporated milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- pinch of cayenne
- 12 ounces elbow macaroni (or any shape of pasta)
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 8 ounces freshly-grated smoked or sharp white cheddar cheese (do not use pre-grated cheese)
- 1/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare a large baking sheet (or two medium-sized baking sheets) with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- In a large bowl, toss diced vegetables with olive oil. Season with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables out in an even layer on the baking sheet(s). Place the garlic cloves in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil, then wrap the foil around them to form a sealed packet and place the packet in the center of the baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until vegetables are soft and have begun to brown a bit around the edges, giving them a stir halfway through and checking on the garlic to be sure that it doesn’t burn.
- While the vegetables are roasting, bring a large pot of generously-salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, and then return the pasta to the pot and toss with butter over medium-high heat until melted.
- Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the evaporated milk, egg, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cayenne until combined. As soon as the butter is melted with the macaroni, pour in the evaporated milk mixture and stir until combined. Continue cooking over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 2-4 minutes, or until the sauce comes to a simmer.
- Remove pan from heat and stir in the grated cheddar and Parmesan until melted. Then gently stir in the roasted vegetables and roasted garlic cloves until combined. Serve immediately, topped with extra Parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Just made this and it’s amazing! Also wanted to say thanks for all your recipes- I’ve made several now and every single recipe has turned out absolutely delicious!
Thanks for your sweet words, Heather — and we’re so glad you loved this! :)
Today I found your website while searching for something to cook for dinner and I ended up making this pasta and your baked chicken breast recipe. I am so grateful to you and your website, the food came out amazing and the combination was perfect! Thank you!
Thanks for your sweet words, Violetta! We’re so glad you enjoyed both of the recipes and we appreciate you giving them a try! :)
Hi Ali,
I just thinking of having mac and cheese and found this on FB. So here is my version. Portabella is a little uncommon here so I used Shimeiji mushroom as the substitution. Do not have yellow squash on hand so I omit it. Other than that I try to follow as closely as possible. Great recipe, great taste and thank you for sharing.
P/s: Not sure how to let you see what I have done so I uploaded in my Instagram.
Cheers!
KP Kwan
Hi KP! We’re so glad you enjoyed this, thanks for giving it a try! If you want us to be able to see it on Instagram (which we’d love), you just have to tag Gimme Some Oven – just do @gimmesomeoven and you can also use the hashtag #gimmesomeoven :)
Such a great comfort food recipe. My family loves simple and delicious dinners like this.
This is one of those, I made this but basically I didn’t comments that so often frequent recipes. But I made a vegan version of this slightly adapting the vegetable selection and it was delicious. I used more peppers and left out the squash (I did follow the rest though as per the recipe) because thats what I had, but the combination of textures and roasted flavors of the vegetables with the pasta was really delcious. Which I think would still stand for the recipe as printed even though I really didn’t make this recipe.
Hi Cierra! We’re so glad to hear you were able to adapt this and that you had great results — thanks for sharing with us! :)
What a define comfort food!
Thank-you!
Yum! Roasted vegetables never looked so good!
Thanks Laura! We hope you enjoy this! :)
Looks awesome! Could you sub in regular milk instead of condensed? Why does milk in a can sound weird to me ;)
Thanks Carly, we hope you enjoy! And yes, we think regular milk will work just fine! :)
This looks amazing! Best of both worlds :))
Could you do regular milk instead of condensed?
Yes, you definitely can. We hope you enjoy Carly! :)