Sausage and 3-Cheese Mac and Cheese

Submitted by Artsy Chef

"This was from a Rachel Ray show on TV and was sooo good. It is a bit time consuming though. I know it isn't low cal, but I would make it again and just try to cut back a little by substituting soy milk for the half and half, etc. Any pasta can be used, but a "short" pasta, like elbows, cavatappi works well."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 lb pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3⁄4 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 3 cups milk or 3 cups half-and-half
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1 1⁄2 cups asiago cheese, grated
• 2 cups provolone cheese, grated
• 2 cups breadcrumbs (for stuffing)
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1⁄2 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated
• 1⁄2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional)

directions

1. Preheat broiler on high.
2. Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring up to a boil. Once boiling, add some salt and the pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
3. While the water is coming up to a boil to cook the pasta, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
4. Add the sausage and break it up it to little pieces as it starts to cook. Cook sausage until brown about 4-5 minutes. Remove sausage from the skillet and drain off all but about 3 tablespoons of the fat.
5. Return the skillet to the heat and add the onion and garlic, and season with a little salt and a lot of pepper.
6. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes or until the onions start to get soft. Sprinkle onions with the flour and continue to cook for about 1 minute.
7. Whisk in the chicken stock and milk, bring up to a simmer and season it with the nutmeg. Add the Asiago and provolone cheese, and stir until melted.
8. Add the drained pasta and cooked sausage to the cheese sauce. Stir to combine, then transfer to a baking dish.
9. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, melted butter, Parmigiano and chopped parsley. Toss to combine then sprinkle over the mac and cheese in the baking dish.
10. Place baking dish in the broiler and broil until the bread topping is nice and brown.

Reviews

[Kikiloveshercop]

Absolutely delish! I used mild pork sausage because that's what I had and it worked beautifully. I also subbed the asiago for chedder because that's again.. what I had on hand. I forgot the flour because I was busy but it still turned out wonderful. After it sat in the fridge for awhile it soaked up all the extra moisture so it wasn't runny at all when I got leftovers tonight. It pleased even my very picky DBF! I will be making this again.. and again.. and again.

 

[Bluenoser]

This is one of those recipes i wish i could give more than 5 stars to.