This pasta dish is a straight indulgence. I'm not even going to try to pretend otherwise just because there is something green in here, this is thick, dreamy, cheesy indulgence. If you grew up a fan of Velveeta shells and cheese, this is right up your alley.

I was having a craving the other day for something cheesy and filling and comforting. It was cold and I was the kind of exhausted that makes you want to get in bed and stay there until spring. All I could think of was bacon cheeseburgers and Velveeta shells and cheese. So I started thinking maybe I should make the kids broccoli, cheese and rice soup, but I couldn't quite convince myself of it because I wanted something richer, more decadent. So I decided to make my version of Velveeta, but with some broccoli and chicken thrown in there, all over pasta instead of rice.

This cheese sauce is stick-to-your-ribs thick, but you can thin it out a little more if you want, and the cheese level is easy to adjust to your taste as well. Once you master a sauce like this, the possibilities are endless. Next up, I am going to make a homemade version of the Annie's White Cheddar sauce. Stay tuned for that!

Broccoli and Cheese Pasta

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:

8 - 16 oz of pasta, cooked and rinsed (I made the whole box and then added until it was my desired cheese-pasta ratio)
6 chicken tenders
1 white onion, minced
3 tbs. butter
1 tbs. minced garlic
Salt and Pepper
1/4 - 1/2 cup of flour
2-3 cups chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
8 - 12 oz of sharp orange cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
4 oz. (half a block) cream cheese
2 cups frozen broccoli florets

In a dutch oven, over medium-high heat, melt 1 tbs. of butter. Season one side of your chicken tenders with salt and pepper, then place seasoned-side down into the dutch oven and brown, about 3-5 minutes. Season the uncooked side of the chicken and then turn it over, browning the other side. After the outsides are browned, add enough chicken broth to cover half the depth of the chicken. Flip the chicken and cover the pot, turn the heat to medium, and let the chicken simmer and steam in the broth until cooked through and tender. Once the chicken is cooked, remove the chicken from the pot and set aside on a plate.

Add the minced onion and garlic to the broth, saute and simmer in the broth until onions are soft. Add the remaining 2 tbs. of butter and let it melt. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour over the broth mix and whisk together. There should be enough flour to absorb all the liquid, if you need to add more flour, do so a little at a time until all the broth is absorbed.

Slowly add the milk, whisking until smooth. Turn heat down to medium-low. Add the shredded cheese, a handful at a time, and stir after each addition until cheese had completely melted and incorporated. Add your desired amount of cheese, I recommend at least 8 oz, but go for more to your taste. Stir in the cream cheese until incorporated.

If the cheese sauce is too thick for your liking, slowly add chicken broth until it has thinned to your preference.

Add the pasta, a handful at a time, mixing to coat in the cheese sauce. Add the broccoli florets and stir to incorporate. While the broccoli heats through, chop the chicken tenders into bite sized pieces and add to the pot. Season with salt and pepper, serve immediately.

October is here! Rejoice, it is officially autumn, the weather might actually start cooling off and the leaves might start falling! Break out your sweaters, pour a hot cup of anything and feel that breeze.

Oh and enjoy the pumpkins! Pumpkins everywhere. They are pretty too look at a delicious to eat. I love making things with pumpkin. Its a nice earthy flavor, lots of nutrients to offer (not pumpkin spice, actual pumpkin), smells great and adds a nice layer of texture you can't quite replicate with another ingredient.

A while back I learned that because of the moisture in pumpkin puree, you can almost always replace eggs in a baking recipe with pumpkin (about 3 tbs per average sized egg). So each fall I try it out on some new things.

This week was Hondo's birthday and gave me a great excuse to make some new pumpkin creations. I wanted to send him to school with some special treats but having been a teacher for little ones his age, I didn't want to send anything covered in frosting and teeming with sugar. Neither is a recipe for a happy class of toddlers and their teachers.

Thankfully, most kids love pumpkin too so I thought this was a great opportunity. For the longest time, Townes though pumpkin muffins were cake - no frosting needed. The same has been true with Hondo.

I couldn't decide what to make to I tried out two new things: Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pumpkin Blondies with a Cream Cheese Swirl.

The recipe I used for these Blondies is my great-grandmother Pauline Crocker's. She made her blondies with chocolate chips in them and always had a batch in the pantry waiting for her grandkids (my mom). I replaced some of the eggs with pumpkin, but not all of them because I didn't want them to be fluffy and cakey, but dense like a fudge brownie, they ended up somewhere in between. I also added some cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and obviously, the cream cheese swirl.

They didn't take long at all to whip up and came out lovely. I still want to concoct a denser, fudgier type pumpkin bar, but haven't nailed it yet - stay tuned though, I'm sure I'll crack it this fall!

PRINT RECIPE

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Blondies

Fills a 9 x 12 baking pan

For the Pumpkin Bar:

2/3 cup butter, melted
2 1/4 cup (1 lb. pkg) of dark brown sugar
3 eggs
7.5 oz (half of a 15 oz. can) of pumpkin puree
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

For the Cream Cheese Swirl:

8 oz. bar of cream cheese, softened to room temp.
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 egg

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees; grease a 9 x 12 baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter and brown sugar until combined.

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat in one egg at a time, until just combined - do not over mix. Next, stir in the pumpkin puree until combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients. Stir together and then mix the dry ingredients into the wet a little at a time until smooth. Set aside.

Make the cream cheese swirl. Using a hand mixer, whip the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, egg, vanilla and cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Pour two-thirds of the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan. Spread it evenly across the bottom of the pan.

Using a large spoon, drop large dollops of the cream cheese mixture on top of the pumpkin batter in the pan. Drop the remaining pumpkin batter among the cream cheese.

Then, using a butter knife, swirl the cream cheese and pumpkin batter together slowly. Don't worry if it doesn't look too pretty, when you cut them it always seems to work out.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the pan completely before cutting and serving. Enjoy!