A Big Bowl of Cheesy Comfort...

One of the first recipes I made for Brian when we were dating was Rachael Ray’s Italian Mac & Cheese. Well, as usual I had to tweak it according to what we like and don’t like… and it came out tasting like a big cheesy sausage pizza, so we call it Pizza Pasta, and we eat it as often as possible, meanwhile we become paranoid about our growing waistlines… but it’s soooo worth it. Trust me.

Here’s the usual line up…



Pizza Pasta by Yours Truly
1 lb cut ziti
1 lb Italian bulk mild sausage
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 Tbsp butter
S&P
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 ½ cups shredded Mozzarella (plus more for sprinkling on top)
½ of 4 Italian cheese blend or grated Parm (plus more for sprinkling on top)
1 can (15oz) of Italian diced tomatoes (the can says ‘with garlic, oregano & basil’)
Dash of Tabasco (totally optional)

Preheat your broiler.

Get a big pot of water boiling, add salt and cook your pasta to al dente, or package directions. Drain and set aside.

Brown and crumble sausage in a skillet over medium heat and then set it aside on a paper-towel lined plate.

Add EVOO and butter to pan. Add Flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken stock and stir in the heavy cream. Bring it to a bubble and then add 1 ½ cups Mozzarella and a ½ cup of parm. When the cheese is all melted, add the tomatoes, S&P, Tabasco and sausage.

Grab a casserole dish a put the pasta in the bottom. Pour the sauce over it and give it a good stir to evenly coat the pasta. Sprinkle some mozzarella and parm on top and put it under the broiler for a few minutes to get it brown and bubbly.

It should look like this…



YUM! Don’t you want some of that?! I’ll just tell you now that the following picture was not my only helping.




You really need to make this for someone tonight… or for yourself… come on, you deserve it.