Shelly's Recipe

TUSCAN MAC AND CHEESE

Category: Pasta - Baked

8 oz sweet or hot Italian sausage
8 oz gemelli or elbow macaroni (2 cups), cooked and drained
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, cut into cubes and softened
4 oz crusty Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 2 cups)
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp dried leaf sage, crushed
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups milk
1 medium tomato, sliced
2 oz shredded Asiago, Parmesan, or Romano cheese (1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350. Remove casings, if present, from sausage. In a skillet cook and crumble sausage; drain. In a very large bowl combine sausage, cooked pasta, cream cheese, bread cubes, olives, and mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, sage, thyme, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Pour sauce over pasta mixture. Stir gently.

Transfer mixture to a 2-quart casserole. Bake, covered, for 35 minutes. Uncover; top with tomato slices and Asiago cheese. Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes more or until heated through. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with additional fresh thyme, if desired. Serves 6-8