I have been making this dish for many years. It’s not only my families favorite but a favorite of so many friends and family that have tried it including one of our good friends that Jim used to work with in fact every time Jim runs into him he mentions the dish. Well, jim ran into him recently so I decided to make him some! Jim was thrilled as he got some too as I split it into two dishes…… hence the aluminum container! I made a garden salad to go and one for us as well! This dish does not photograph well but it certainly tastes great!
NOTE-I usually roast the garlic the day before
INGREDIENTS
2 whole garlic heads
2 teaspoon olive oil
1 pound Jimmy Dean “Hot” sausage
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
6 cups milk, I used whole milk but 1% also works
1 cup fresh Parmesan, grated
2/3 cup gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 pound pasta-penne or spiral, cooked to Al Dante
DIRECTIONS
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the top of the garlic heads off exposing the garlic cloves. Wrap each garlic head separately in foil leaving the top exposed. Drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil over each one. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cooled squeeze the garlic pulp out and discard skins. Set aside until ready to use. If doing this the day before store in the fridge.
Increase oven to 400 degrees.
Brown sausage in a large pot (I use a pot for this as later in the recipe everything gets added into the pot.) over medium heat until browned, stirring and crumbling as it cooks. Remove sausage from pot and set aside.
Melt butter in the same pot you used for the sausage over medium heat, add the flour to the melted butter and stir with a whisk. Gradually add the milk and cook until thickened about ten minutes. Add the roasted garlic, cheeses, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Once everything is well combined remove from heat and add the cooked pasta into the sauce along with the sausage, mix well until combined.
Spoon pasta mixture into a prepared 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake 400 degrees for 15 minutes. The sauce will thicken a little more during this cooking time. When heated through remove from heat and serve warm.
Enjoy!
