Monday, January 4, 2010

Eat With Caution

Here's a recipe that is sure to please, but not if you've decided to start a diet for the New Year. Courtesy (as it has been many times before) of Special Cheverly Chef, Scott.

White Cheese & Sausage Pasta
from Culinary in the Desert
I made this for dinner last night. It was good! Gut bomb good! Spicy from the sausage. Ridiculously creamy and gooey from the cheese and bechamel sauce. Stupid Good. I more or less followed the recipe; even though I didn't have it in front of me, so some of the quantities were off and I ad libbed a bit. Added some shredded white cheddar cheese (1/2 cup) as well as the mozzarella and parm.

Instead of using another baking dish, I made sure to boil the pasta in an oven-proof pot. After I drained the pasta, I dumped it back in the pot and poured the sausage/sauce mixture over, stirred and baked. Saved us a little extra clean up. I used a half pound of spicy ground pork sausage, not turkey sausage. I don't think it matters much. But use the spicy if you like some good heat. If not, use regular, but add a little red pepper flake. You want some heat to cut through all the creamy, cheesey goodness.
  • 4 cups dry rigatoni or any other short tube-shaped pasta
  • 8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
  • 2 TB butter
  • 3 TB all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3 ounces fresh grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 400.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add sausage - cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Add butter to the same skillet and allow to melt over medium heat - whisk in flour and allow to cook, whisking, for a minute or two. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Cook, stirring, until thick, about 8 minutes - remove from heat.

In a large bowl, toss together the sauce, cooked sausage Parmesan, crushed red pepper and salt. Scoop the mixture into a 7" x 11" baking dish coated with nonstick spray. Scatter the top with mozzarella. Bake until bubbly and the top is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

2 comments:

ScottE. said...

Oh this was sooo good...but I have a tummy ache just thinking about it!

Brave Astronaut said...

Scott - as I noted, I would think the hurt would be located in the heart and arteries. :)