Butternut squash mac and cheese comes out too sweet

Hi all. I'm working on a dairy-free Mac and cheese. Roasted butternut squash blended with nutritional yeast, s&p, onion powder, a smidge of miso, a smidge of dijon, then thinned with a little water if it's not blending. Stirred with elbow mac and baked with breadcrumbs on top.

It's good, but it's too sweet for me. Should I try a different squash? Hope for a less sweet/ripe butternut next time? Balance with another vegetable? Pepper it up?

Anne
  • Posted by: Anne
  • December 2, 2017
  • 5060 views
  • 3 Comments

3 Comments

sexyLAMBCHOPx December 3, 2017
You could add some dried mustard instead or in addition to the Dijon mustard.
 
Nancy December 2, 2017
Options to make the dish less sweet:
1) use less of butternut squash as in first version
2) use acorn or hubbard squash (they have less sugar than butternut)
3) use less of (regular white) macaroni or all whole wheat macaroni (less sugar content)
4) add broccoli rabe or another bitter green low-sugar vegetable

And adding pepper (chile or black peppercorns) will probably taste good, add to flavor contrast but not reduce the sugar.

Good luck with development of your dish, and please let us know how it works out.
 
[email protected] December 3, 2017
I'm wondering if a bit of lemon juice or vinegar would cut the sweetness.
 
Recommended by Food52