Three Cheese Bow-ties

When I was a kid one of my favorite things to eat for lunch was Kraft Dinner with cut up hot-dogs.  I sure hope I am not the only one!

As an adult, I wanted something more hearty that played on this old favorite.  Below is my take on the old “Mac and Cheese”.

Ingredients:

• 1 Package Bow-tie Pasta (or Macaroni Noodles)
  • 1/2 Cup Old Cheddar
  • 1/2 Cup Mozzarella
  • 1/4 Cup Parmesan (for topping)
  • 1/4 Cup Breadcrumbs (for topping)
  • 4 Breakfast Sausages
  • 1 Tbsp Butter
  • Salt/Pepper

Start pan frying your breakfast sausages and once cooked place on paper towel to soak up any access oil or fat.  Boil up your pasta (i’m pretty sure everyone knows how to do this!) and while it is cooking grate up all your cheese.  You can use whatever cheese you have on hand, these are just my favorites because they melt so nicely.

Once your pasta is cooked, drain it, but reserve a little bit of the pasta water.  Once your pasta is drained, add the butter to the pasta (along with the salt and pepper) and stir until melted.  Once melted add the cheese (except the Parmesan, save that for the end) and stir.  If things seem a little sticky, add a little bit of the pasta water, that will smooth things out.

Cut the sausage into bite size pieces.  Once all the cheese is melted,  add the sausage to the pasta and stir.

Set the oven to 425 degrees on broil.

Spoon the pasta/sausage mix into little cups (as shown in my picture), or dump it all into a casserole dish.   Mix the Parmesan cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top of your pasta.  Place the cups or casserole dish into the oven (if you use the cups, I recommend placing on the cookie sheet to catch any melting cheese).

Usually it takes about 5 minutes for the cheese to start to bubble, but keep your eye on things.  Every oven is different so check it every 1-2 minutes!

Makes 4 small cups or 1 medium casserole dish.