Baked Penne with Italian Sausage and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Who doesn't love a good mac & cheese? How about baked penne with Italian sausage and sun-dried tomatoes? It's comfort food at its best!

Course Mains & Entrees

Cuisine American-Italian

Keyword italian sausage, mushrooms, parmesan, penne rigate, provolone, sundried tomatoes

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 25

Additional Time 5

Total Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 408

Author Laurie McNamara

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for baking dishes
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg grated
1 pound penne
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 pound italian sausage
10 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cloves garlic minced
6 cups whole milk room temperature
8 ounces cremini mushrooms trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes drained and thinly sliced
1½ cups sharp provolone cheese freshly grated
1½ cup parmesan cheese finely grated

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes {or equivalent}.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Brown Italian sausage until cooked all the way through. Remove from heat to cool.
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter over medium. Once melted add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer, and in the fresh grated nutmeg and whisk frequently until thickened. Add mushrooms, sausage and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Off heat, gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Add pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper.
Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes; sprinkle each with the remaining cup Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 20-25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

for freezing:

Prepare up until after sprinkling with Parmesan and let pasta cool. Cover tightly with foil, and freeze up to 3 months.

reheating frozen pasta:

Preheat oven to 400°, and bake {still covered in foil} on a rimmed baking sheet until center is hot, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until hot in the center. Remove foil; bake until golden, about 15 minutes more.

Nutrition