I’ve been making this for years.  It’s a quick rustle up, which gets the kids eating vegetables and if you don’t have children it is simple good nosh on a cold day, especially if you have some cauliflower you want to use up and some roasted pumpkin from the night before.

Macless Mac + Cheese

You Will Need:
Baking dish greased with Olive Oil
Steamer Pot 
Whisk
Pan to cook bacon in 
Preheat the oven to 180c

Ingredients

½ cauliflower - steamed  

2 cups roasted pumpkin

1 cup silverbeet or spinach - roughly chopped 

1 onion

4 rashers of bacon sliced, I like to use shoulder 

2 cups milk

2 tbs flour

olive oil

1 cup cheese

tbs butter

handful of breadcrumbs 

chilli flakes if you like it spicy

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Cut your pumpkin into 5cm or so pieces, some people leave skin on but my kids won’t eat it, so I cut it off.  Halve and peel the onion and slice finely.

Place both these into the baking dish and drizzle olive oil over and toss well, add the bacon. Salt and pepper to taste and put in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, turning once.

While your pumpkin, bacon and onion are roasting cut the cauliflower into medium sized florets then steam till tender but not mushy.  Set aside.  

Make your cheese sauce:

Heat butter in a pan at a medium heat, once melted add the 2 tablespoons of flour and cook out for a minute or two stirring with a whisk, then pour in the milk, stirring until the sauce thickens. Add the cheese and stir in thoroughly. (Reserve half the cheese to sprinkle over top of the dish).

Once pumpkin, onion and bacon roasted off and look cooked, take from oven and put the cauliflower in the dish, put the spinach over randomly and pour the cheese sauce over, covering well. Mix the breadcrumbs and reserved grated cheese together and scatter over the dish. I like to add chilli flakes, if for children as well, then I add to one end only. Put back in the oven to reheat and make the top nice and crispy. 

TIP: You can zap the milk in the microwave to heat, then the sauce thickens much more quickly.  (I use my coffee machine wand to heat the milk)