Baked Pasta with Sausage and Baby Portobello Mushroom White Sauce
This is one another favorite dish of mine. It relatively easy to make and it
tastes delicious with it's rich qualities.
Difficulty (Scale from 1-10): 6
Makes 1 pound of pasta (serves 6-8)
Ingredients
1 pound dried penne pasta
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage taken out of it's casing
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 pound of baby Portobello mushrooms sliced
3 cloves of fresh garlic - pressed
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon rounded of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cracked black pepper
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese - grated
8 oz of whole milk mozzarella cheese - shredded
1) Cook Pasta in a salted boiling pot of water until al dente; drain pasta &
transfer to a large bowl, put aside a 3 quart flame proof casserole dish, for
the baking process.
2) Preheat broiler
3) Cook sausage in one tablespoon of olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over
medium-high heat. Stirring occasionally to prevent sticking/burning while
breaking up and large pieces of sausage, until no longer pink. Transfer sausage
to a bowl leaving behind the fat in the skillet.
4) Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the already existing fat in the skillet.
Add pressed garlic and mushrooms to the skillet over medium-high heat until
mushrooms are cooked (do not over-cook - garlic should not burn), garlic should
not get darker than golden brown. Cook time should be 5 - 7 minutes.
5) Return sausage to skillet along with heavy cream along with salt & pepper.
Boil over medium-high heat until thickened, about 5-6 minutes. Pour over pasta
(in large bowl) and mix in parmesan and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Salt to
taste.
6) Pour into casserole/baking dish and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
7) Broil 3-4 inches from broiler until golden brown in spots, about 5-7 mins.
Remove from oven and enjoy you meal!!