Healthier Stovetop Mac and Cheese

By Paul Briand

What interested me about this recipe was that it was a mac and cheese recipe that de-emphasizes the cheese ... big time.

In fact, the foundation on which this recipe is made is not cheese at all -- it's the pumpkin or squash puree.

I found this recipe while trolling the Associated Press app on my BlackBerry.

And reading a mac and cheese recipe that wasn't really cheesy captured my attention. The challenge, as I would come to find out, was finding pumpkin or squash puree. Normally, I was told at my supermarket, one or the other would be among the items in the baking aisle. But there were neither, and hadn't been for some time, I was told.

So I have the soup aisle a look. I couldn't find a substitute in the normal soup aisles among the varieties from Campbell or Progresso, but in the natural food aisle I found a Wolfgang Puck brand squash soup, which I used in this recipe. I also substituted the creme fraiche with sour cream.

Ingredients
12 ounces medium whole-wheat pasta shells
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices (about 2 ounces) prosciutto, finely chopped
15-ounce can pumpkin or squash puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
4 ounces creme fraiche (or substitute with sour cream)
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside;
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium, heat the olive oil. Add the prosciutto and cook until just crisp, about 3 minutes;
3. Add the pumpkin, creme fraiche, hot sauce, cumin and Parmesan. Cook, stirring often, until hot;
4. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss well to coat. Season with pepper and serve.