Alpine Mac'n Cheese

This recipe it taken out of Cuisine at Home (Feb. 2012 edition).

I had made a cajun mac and cheese earlier in the month, but given that my husband loves anything with kielbasa, cheese, and pasta- I figured it couldn't hurt to try another recipe. This one is a 'fancier' version of what we usually make in our house- and invovles some cheeses I've never made mac and cheese with before. Look at us- all fancypants with our cheese that really isn't all that fancy- its just not served in 'singles' like the Kraft stuff is.

One word of advice: cut back on the amount of dijon used- I had already cut it back in the recipe to appeal to my audience of picky eaters, and it was still strong in the dish!

Recipe adapted from Cuisine at Home

Alpine Mac 'n Cheese

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (we used panko for a crunch)
* 2 tbsp. minced fresh parsley (omitted in ours- alex hates flakey green things)
* 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste

* 8 oz cavatappi or elbow pasta
* 8 oz kielbasa sausage
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter
* 2 tbsp minced shallots
* 1 tbsp caraway seeds

* 2 tbsp flour
* 2 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed
* 1 cup shredded gouda
* 1 cup appenzeller, gruyere, or emmental cheese (we used gruyere)
* 3 tbsp dijon mustard (i used 2 and it was still strong tasting)
* 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

To Make:

* Preheat oven to 400. coat casserole dish with nonstick spray
* for topping: combine crumbs, parsley, and melted butter in a bowl. set aside
* cook pasta in salted boiling water, drain, set aside
* brown kielbasa in a pan with olive oil. drain on paper-towel covered plate
* melt 2 tbsp butter in same pot over medium heat, add shallots, caraway seed. cook until seeds are toasted (we omitted seeds)
* whisk in flour. cook one minute. whisk in milk, cook until slightly thickened. reduce heat to low. add cheeses by the handful, whisking until melted.
* stir in dijon and worcestershire sauce. then add pasta. then add sausage. transfer to casserole dish and sprinkle crumb topping over the top.
* bake until sauce is bubbly and crumbs are brown- about 20 minutes.