Roasted Summer Vegetable Mac + Cheese.
I’m being very high maintenance today.
Yes. I am asking you to roast a pan of vegetables. And THEN make an entire dish of mac and cheese.
Too much?
But it’s MAC AND CHEESE! Won’t you do anything for mac and cheese? Just me?
See, I really don’t take issue with such things, probably because I will forever prefer my vegetables in a bath of cheese sauce over some simple salt and pepper.
Here’s the deal: if you’re going to ask me if it is really imperative that you roast the veggies? The answer is yes. Heck, grill them if you want. Roast them ahead of time. Just get that flavor. This dish was inspired by a frittata with queso that I had at the aviary brunch a few weeks ago. I don’t even like fritattas and I can’t stop thinking about it. I mean, we are talking about a fritatta, not only with creamy queso cheese, but also with roasted vegetables like corn. It was to die for. I’m trying to vehemently to recreate that fritatta recipe for the book right now in the last hour, after I finished the recipes months ago. THAT’s how much I loved it.
So now? It’s like I can’t possibly eat something with cheese sauce without roasted veg. I mean, if it was up to me I’d probably only include grilled corn or something. Maybe throw in a little roasted red pepper. But since I love my invisible internet friends and know that most normal people actually eat vegetables and like eating vegetables (how foreign), I added a few more.
Plus this gave me an excellent excuse to eat a second helping of mac and cheese. As if you even need an excuse.
Roasted Summer Vegetable Mac + Cheese
Ingredients
- 4 ears fresh corn
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 1 small zucchini, chopped
- 1 small summer squash, chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
mac and cheese
- 1/2-3/4 pound whole wheat shell noodles
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 1/2 cups milk, preferably 2% or whole
- 8 ounces havarti cheese, freshly grated
- 8 ounces white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 2 ounces parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup seasoned fine bread crumbs
- 1 avocado, sliced for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- In a large bowl, combine corn, peppers, squash and onions with salt and pepper. Whisk together olive oil and vinegar, then add over top and toss to coat. Spread on the baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes.
- When the veggies are almost finished roasting, bring water to a boil and prepare pasta according to directions – shaving 1-2 minutes off of the cooking time.
- To make the cheese sauce, heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once sizzling, add flour and whisk constantly to create a roux, until golden and bubbly, about 2 minutes. Pour in milk and whisk constantly, stirring until the mixture slightly thickens. Reduce heat to low and add in 6 ounces of the havarti and cheddar and all of the parmesan, along with the minced garlic. Stir until cheese melts and sauce is thick. Taste and season with a bit of salt and pepper if desired. I usually add a pinch of nutmeg.
- Add cooked pasta and vegetables to a large baking dish, tossing to coat. Pour cheese soup over top and stir to evenly distribute. Cover the top the the remaining havarti and cheddar, then the breadcrumbs. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until cheese is golden and bubbly on top. Serve with sliced avocado if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Avocado optional. (but if you love me you’ll do it.)
82 Comments on “Roasted Summer Vegetable Mac + Cheese.”
Not too high maintenance for me! Roasted veggies are were it is at and mac and cheese? I mean come on! I have to make this.
Now that is what I call a bowl of Mac and Cheese! I love the vegetables that you used! So creative and a great way to get your family to eat there vegetables! Love It!!!
Sooooo high maintenance… sooo worth it!
I love roasted veg in just about anything, and I love just about anything in macaroni cheese. So yes. I will do this.
This is a very fancy mac and cheese! As a kid, I don’t think it ever even crossed my mind to put vegetables in my Kraft Dinner (unless they were tomatoes, in the form of ketchup, in which case I got plenty – and a tomato technically isn’t even a vegetable). Adult me on the other hand, thinks this is a great idea!
This looks so fantastic! And P.S. I can’t wait for your book! I love cookbooks and the majority of my Pinterest boards are your recipes anyway, so I can’t wait to have a book of your recipes!
I would do ANYTHING for a bowl of this fancy, veggie studded, mac. Like… anything!
I love you for this recipe! Wish I could snap my fingers and have it appear for breakfast this morning!
I will roast the vegetables. Just because you said so. And also because your recipe calls for Havarti cheese. YESSSSSS.
I have been making a little sort of open-faced sort of grill pocket with foil and cooking all my vegetables that way because me and the oven are not really friends right now (it’s HOOOOT) and it totally works great!!
Now that’s how you get your veggies in!
Heck the the yes. Roasted veggies are my favorite thing on earth to make (I know, so boring, but those colors are just so pretty!) so I’m all over it.
I’ve had regular mac n’ cheese before, but never with veggies. What an awesome idea!
Girl. I love me some Mac and cheese. And roasted veggies? Yes please.
I’d do anything for mac and cheese and this looks awesome!! Love it!
roasted veggies and mac ‘n cheese? yum! the avocado on top is perfection.
Nothing is ever too much for mac and cheese. Pre roasted veggies are great for a quick meal. I normally have a stash in my fridge; I love the roasted veggies in jaffles or even in a grilled cheese.
Having veggies in it makes it totally acceptable as a grown up meal.
I’m already have a ton of squash and zucchini, so this looks like the perfect way to use ’em up! Mac and cheese is always, always a good idea.
The photo with the steam is amazing, but also enough to not want me to make my house any hotter than it’s been this week! :)
Wow this looks incredible! I just made mac n cheese for another project I’ve been working on and I wish I could have added some veggies! It has to be traditional mac n cheese but I much prefer all your gorgeous chunky veggies!
Nice, I was thinking about making a mac n cheese with less pasta, and this looks like a great alternative. I tend to roast vegetables in the summer for gazpacho anyway.
This sounds like the ultimate combination — everything’s better roasted, and of course everything’s better topped with cheese!
The avocado on top just completes it! Perfection!
I love Mac N Cheese but The Boy always says it is too unhealthy to eat on a regular basis, but he loves veggies. He is a weird. I know he will LOVE this! AHHH It isn’t even 9 am yet, and you have me wanting dinner!
I’m definitely on a mac and cheese kick right now and have made a different version each week for a month now, will have to continue the trend with this recipe!
If you need me I’ll be at the bottom of that bowl.
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Mmmmm…looks delicious and comforting! :)
This looks so delicious! I have to make this, it’s just my kind of food!
This is going to be so freaking delicious.
I’m gonna want to punch babies.
Making it this weekend for my friends and I!!
Huzzah.
I rarely feel like I can smell an actual picture but that pan of roasted veggies with the steam coming off is the closest I’ve gotten to smelling a picture.
That really looks incredible! Thinking I might need to scale back on the cheese and milk for the sake of my tummy…
Ohh, the avocado on top looks DELICIOUS! I’m not a fan of some of the veggies listed, but I do believe I’ll be tweaking this to roast veggies that I like, and serving with LOTS of avocado slices!
Yes, yes, and yes again.
this reminds me of your autumn mac and cheese (which is so yummy). do you have spring and winter mac and cheeses developed yet? i’ll have to make those too.
This is a fabulous idea. I love my roasted veggies, and it makes perfect sense to put them in something else I love — mac ‘n cheese!
Its never too much work when you are talking about mac and cheese!
I totally agree – roasted vegetables are the best! Especially the corn. Geesh, can you get any more delicious?!
I like where you’re heads at with this one…veggies swimming in cheese?! Mmm, mmm, mmm.
This is EXACTLY what I need in my mouth right now.
(that’s what she said)
OMG yes PLEASE!
xo Jennifer
http://seekingstyleblog.wordpress.com
I’ve harvested 2 summer squash that volunteered in my garden. Now I have a recipe for them. Thanks, Jessica!!!!
ka
Roasted veggies mac and cheese?!? Brilliant!!
There is just no end to your mouthwatering creations, is there? I love roasted vegetables. Steamed veggies are for stupid people. Who would steam vegetables when they taste close to five zillion times better roasted? Plus, put down a sheet of parchment paper and the cleanup is virtually nada. I really want to find a good vegan cheese sauce recipe (one with nutritional yeast, for sure!) and replicate this mac. Definitely with the avocado on top.
Wow, now that’s a grown up mac and cheese! I love all of the veggies you have in there, awesome!
So happy to see this recipe today. Two nights ago I roasted a nearly identical list of vegetables (I had mushrooms instead of summer squash). I just wanted to get them out of the fridge before they went bad. I didn’t really know what direction I was going in, and I ended up just throwing them in with pasta and plenty of garlic and Parmesan. My sister was pretty down on the idea of corn in her pasta at first.. but she ended up surprised at how much she liked it. Mac and Cheese would have been so much more delicious.. I’ll have to do this next time!
This looks like the bomb.com. I’m so hungry right now, and this looks like an MF dream.
This is my kind of mac and cheese, love the summer veggies!
Has anyone ever told you you are a magician?
Because you are. A MAGICIAN of food.
This looks amazing.
Who says you can’t have your mac & cheese AND colourful veggies too!?
This looks y.u.m.m.y.
I will roast those veggies. And the avocado…hell yea!