Show Us Your Life: Go To Dinner Recipe

It's that time again! Kelly's Korner is doing a recipe swap this week. Check it out to get some great meal time ideas. This particular dish was one of the first things I really tried to "cook" when Ollie and I got married. Previously, if it wasn't in a box or couldn't be heated in the microwave, we didn't eat it. Since I was going to be a mom though I thought it was probably time to give the whole cooking thing a try. And so began my addiction to Food Network. This one is from Rachael Ray's, "30 Minute Meals". It takes me a little longer - I'm not as good as Rachael with the knife skills - but it's still reasonable. And might I add... darn good. It's a go to for me mainly because I usually keep everything in the recipe (at least the parts I use) on hand.



Ingredients:

1 pound of ziti, penne or cavatappi
1 pound of Italian sweet sausage (I use Hillshire Farms Light Smoked Sauage)
2 tablespoons of EVOO
1 tablespoon of butter
3 or 4 cloves garlic chopped (I can't stand trying to get garlic cloves open - I use the kind in a jar and just spoon it out)
12 crimini mushrooms, sliced (I use any kind of fresh mushrooms)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
1 cup of chicken stock (I use Rachael Ray's or Wolfgang Puck's - most others are too salty for me)
1 cup heavy cream
1 sack (2.5 cups) shredded Italian cheese blend
1 can diced tomatoes, drained well (I get the kind that have the Italian seasoning)
1 teaspoon of hot sauce (I leave this out)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, a couple of handfuls


Directions:

Pre-heat oven to broil.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt water and cook pasta to a chewy al dente, about 8 minutes.
In a nonstick skillet, brown and crumble the sausage (I leave the casing on but you can take it off). Drain cooked crumbles on paper towel lined plate. Return pan to heat and add extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), butter, garlic and mushrooms. Season liberally with salt and pepper (I'm not that liberal). Saute 3 to 5 minutes, until mushrooms are lightly golden.

To mushrooms, add flour and stir, cooking 2 minutes. Whisk in stock, then stir in cream. Bring cream to a bubble, then stir in 2 cups of cheese blend. When cheese has melted into sauce, add tomatoes. When sauce comes to a bubble, remove from heat and adjust seasonings, ading hot sauce if desired.

Combine cheese sauce with sausage and pasta, transfer to a baking dish, casserole or oven safe serving platter. Sprinkly remaining 1/4 cheese blend and grated Parmesan over the top and brown under hot broiler.

Note: I sometimes add diced onions when I'm making the sauce. I just like the added flavor.

Serves: 4 plus leftovers

Enjoy!