Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage

Early in my marriage I realized pretty quickly that I did not enjoy cooking and would need to find simple recipes that were good, but didn't require a lot of work. As I was checking out at the grocery store one day, I grabbed one of those impulse-buy booklets called Lawry's Weekday Gourmet. It had easy recipes that didn't require a lot of fussy ingredients, and I used it so much that over the years it completely fell apart but I made sure to save this rigatoni recipe which was our family favorite, and sure to become your family's as well.

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Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound Italian sausage*

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

8 ounces rigatoni pasta, cooked & drained

2 1/2 cups (10 oz.) grated Mozzarella cheese**

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350º F.

In large skillet, crumble Italian sausage. Brown 5 minutes; drain fat. In small bowl, combine milk and flour; blend well. Stir milk-flour mixture into sausage; bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally. Stir in pasta, cheeses, garlic powder, and pepper. Place in 1 1/2-quart baking dish.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and place under broiler just until crumbs are browned. (I sometimes skip this step).

farragio hints

*1/4 pound cooked diced ham or bacon can be substituted for sausage.

**Monterey Jack cheese (or any similar cheese) can be substituted for Mozzarella.