White Cheese & Sausage Pasta - anyone made this?

[patsyk]

Hi - I just found this recipe in the CL recipe finder and was wondering if anyone on the BB has made it before? I have hot turkey sausage sitting in my frig that I need to use tonight... am thinking that I could make this... just wanted to get any thoughts on the recipe before deciding to make it! TIA!

White Cheese and Sausage Pasta

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound mild Italian turkey sausage
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups 1% skim milk
6 cups hot cooked ziti (about 4 cups uncooked short tube-shapedpasta)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Remove sausage from casings. Place a large skillet coated withcooking spray over medium heat; cook sausage until browned, stirringto crumble. Drain well; set aside. Wipe drippings from pan with apaper towel.

3. Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add flour; stir with a whisk.Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Cook untilthick (about 8 minutes); remove from heat. Combine sauce, sausage,pasta, Parmesan, and salt in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into an 11 x7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle withmozzarella. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightlybrowned.



NUTRITIONAL INFO:
CALORIES 577 (29% from fat); FAT 18.4g (sat 10.1g, mono 4.4g, poly1.3g); PROTEIN 31.3g; CARB 71.4g; FIBER 2.7g; CHOL 56mg; IRON 3.7mg;SODIUM 907mg; CALC 562mg

YIELD:
4 servings (serving size: about 1-1/2 cups)

[Angela]

This is in the regular menu cycle at my house! We love it! I use turkey kielbasa, but other than that make it as written. It's simple and flavorful! The leftovers are great too.

[penguin]

Here's a thread with a couple reviews, Patsy. It's originally from the Jan/Feb 2002 issue. I couldn't come up with any other reviews in my search, but I hope this helps!

Reviews (http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26123&highlight=white+cheese+sausage)

[shoyski]

Sorry to be the dissenting person here but we were unimpressed. It wasn't bad, just not exciting enough to make again. :( I hope it works out better for you.

[patsyk]

Thanks, Angela & Penguin! The recipe search also had a couple of reviews, but I tend to trust those on the BB a bit more... not sure why, but I guess I feel like I know more of everyone's tastes here and whether I'll agree as well.

Anyway, I think I'll give this a go tonight and see how DH likes it... for once I have all the ingredients on hand and don't have to go to the grocery! Woo Hoo! :D

[patsyk]

Originally posted by shoyski
Sorry to be the dissenting person here but we were unimpressed. It wasn't bad, just not exciting enough to make again. :( I hope it works out better for you.

Shyoski - was it not flavorful enough? Can you think of anything you would have changed to make it more tasty to you? :confused: Just looking for ideas on this one - good & bad - since it seems like such an easy recipe!

[lindrusso]

I really liked this recipe - it's not a knock-your-socks of kind of recipe - just good comfort food. If you want to jazz it up, maybe you could try adding a head of roasted garlic? There was that Dracula's Revenge recipe that a lot of members liked that had a similar sauce, but with roasted garlic. However, I liked the consistency of the sauce in this white cheese recipe better.

I was just out shopping for this recipe myself, but my store only had the hot Italian turkey sausage and I need to keep it mild so my kids can eat it. :( Oh well - guess I'll have to hit Walmart and see if they have it.

[valchemist]

I made it and we liked it a lot.

Here were the notes I made to myself:

really good. I used over a pound of sausage and a whole box of pasta. used 1 cup parmesan and over a cup of mozarella. I didn't quite use all the pasta I cooked, but I think it would have been okay if I did. repeat this one.

[patsyk]

Lindrusso - I think I'll try sauteeing up some minced garlic when I cook the sausage to add a bit "extra" to it - and the sausage is spicy so I imagine that will add something to it as well. My DH loves spicy things!

Valchemist - Thanks for your notes on the recipe... I'll keep them in mind when putting together my ingredients for the dish tonight. Did you use fresh grated parmesan (I assume you did since I think most everyone on this BB has graduated from the green cans - yuck)?

I might also cut back the pasta the recipe calls for - maybe to 2 cups... or is it really needed to soak up the cheese-y sauce?

[valchemist]

I used parmesan that was grated in the Deli of my grocery store. In other words, not the green can, but I didn't grate it myself, either.

[patsyk]

That's what I figured, Valchemist! I just wanted to make sure because sometimes the real parmesan cheese is strong enough in flavor that you don't need quite as much... but, since you used the real stuff (and it's really not that much more than what the recipe calls for), I'll do the same - besides I love cheese! :D

Now, I am really excited about making this tonight! Thanks for all of your suggestions and feedback... I'll let you know how it turns out! :)

[sfarler]

I love this recipe - I've made it several times. I made it earlier this week and used a combination of 2% milk, buttermilk and FF half and half because I only had a little of each. It turned out great anyway. It's also a good lunch to heat in the microwave.

[patsyk]

Originally posted by sfarler
I love this recipe - I've made it several times. I made it earlier this week and used a combination of 2% milk, buttermilk and FF half and half because I only had a little of each. It turned out great anyway. It's also a good lunch to heat in the microwave.

I am happy to hear from more than one of you that this reheats well... It looks like it makes much more than my dh & I can eat for one meal... and leftovers are big for us to take to work for lunch the next day!:D

[patsyk]

Ok, my dh is a major stick in the mud sometimes... looks like he isn't interested in trying this recipe - and after all the great ideas I got from everyone on it! Grrrr! :mad:

Anyway, he has decided that he has eaten so poorly the last few weeks that he now wants to start eating "lighter" and this dish doesn't seem very light based on that request... so, I'll be doing something else "creative" with the sausages that I have tonight...

Thanks for all of your help anyway... does anyone else ever run into this problem?

[bobmark226]

Another blast from the past!

I spent a good deal of time going through CLs 2003 and 2004 this weekend, doing two that were new to me and reviving an old favorite I hadn't done for a while, the Turkey Mole soup (which I love) from Dec. 2002.

As it happened, I had everything on hand in the house for this White Cheese and Sausage Pasta including some very fresh parmesean and some spicy turkey sausage. I liked this a lot, more than the similar gruyere with shrimp that's being done here lately. Not sure why, but the whole thing was very creamy and rich and appealing and should find regular repetition when I want a relatively low cal pasta or mac and cheese type dish.

Even had it for breakfast this morning!

BOB

[Gracie]

I missed this thread first time around but wanted to add that we enjoyed it too!

Loren

[sab1976]

Mmm...this sounds good and just like something my Mom used to make. I'm adding it to next week's menu!

[patissac]

I've made this tons of times and I love it, I even made it for a pasta dish at a christmas brunch I had, it was a hit. Word of advice eat it right away because the cheese will make everything stick when it gets cold. I've also tried ways of sparking it up, I do use the italian turkey sausage but I've put mushrooms in it and peas. I've been thinking about trying smoked mozzarella with it this time around...hmmm..

[bobmark226]

Originally posted by patissac
I've also tried ways of sparking it up, I do use the italian turkey sausage but I've put mushrooms in it and peas. I've been thinking about trying smoked mozzarella with it this time around...hmmm..

I did this again this weekend with a heaping cup of asparagus, chopped into one inch sections and "blanched" in the microwave for just two minutes. I also used a whole wheat pasta. The whole dish was even better than the first time and I might even up the asparagus next time around!

BOB

[patissac]

hey bob! you just gave me an idea, I would have never thought of using wheat pasta! I'll try that next time! sounds good to hear you changed it up a bit, I personally think its always about adding your own special touch to dishes! Kick it up a notch!