Dracula's Revenge

Dracula's Revenge

Serves 4.

Hmm... that's a pretty awful picture. Yikes. Does it make a difference if I tell you we liked it?

Source: Cooking Light magazine

1 whole garlic head

1/2 lb. sweet Italian turkey sausage

1/2 t. chopped fresh sage (or 1/8 t. dried)

1/2 t. chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/8 t. dried)

1 T. butter

1/6 c. all-purpose flour

3 c. 1% milk

1/2 (2 oz.) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1/3 c. (about 1-1/4 oz.) shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese

1/4 t. salt

1/8 t. black pepper

4 c. hot cooked penne (about 1/2 lb. uncooked), or rigatoni or macaroni

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate cloves). Wrap in foil and bake for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins. Set garlic aside.

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon. Place sausage in a large bowl; stir in sage and rosemary.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add the flour to the melted butter, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add the milk; cook until slightly thick, stirring constantly with a whisk (10 minutes). Stir in roasted garlic, cheeses, salt, and pepper.

Remove mixture from heat. Add 2-1/2 cups cheese sauce and cooked pasta to sausage, stirring to coat. Spoon pasta mixture in a 8x8 baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Top with remaining sauce. Bake for 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

If freezing, thaw in refrigerator before baking and increase baking time to 45-60 minutes.