Mac & Cheese, with a twist

I know I've said before that I really like Rachael Ray's concept of the "30-Minute Meal," but usually don't like her actual recipes. I found this one a while back and thought it looked interesting. My husband picked it out for dinner on Friday. We both thought it was great.


Italian Mac & Cheese
Recipe by Rachael Ray (my changes noted)
Prep Time - 10 minutes, Cook Time - 20 minutes

1 pound ziti rigate, penne rigate or cavatappi (I used shells - It was what we had on hand)
1 pound Italian bulk sweet sausage (I used hot)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (I omitted)
1 tablespoon butter
3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
12 crimini mushrooms, sliced (I omitted)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 (10-ounce) sack, 2 1/2 cups, shredded Italian 4 cheese blend, available on dairy aisle
1 can diced tomatoes, drained well
1 teaspoon hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco), optional
1/2 cup Parmesan, a couple of handfuls

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water and cook pasta to a chewy al dente, about 8 minutes.

In a nonstick skillet, brown and crumble the sausage. Drain cooked crumbles on paper towel lined plate. Return pan to heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, butter, garlic and mushrooms. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Saute 3 to 5 minutes, until mushrooms are lightly golden. (Because I omitted the mushrooms, I added the garlic to the sausage about 1/2 way through the browning).

Preheat broiler to high.

To mushrooms, add flour and stir, cooking 2 minutes. Whisk in stock, then stir in cream. (Since I omitted the mushrooms, I added the stock first and whisked in the flour, then added the cream). Bring cream to a bubble, then stir in 2 cups of 4 cheese blend. When cheese has melted into sauce, add tomatoes. When sauce comes to a bubble, remove from heat and adjust seasonings, adding hot sauce if desired.

Combine cheese sauce with sausage and pasta, transfer to baking dish, casserole or oven safe serving platter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of 4 cheese blend and the grated Parmesan over the top and brown under hot broiler. (This only took about 2 minutes)