Italian Mac and Cheese Bake

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Buckle up guys – there is SO much food coming your way the next month and this Italian Mac and Cheese Bake is perfection!! Plus it uses my new Four Cheese Sauce which gives me all the joy!

Italian Mac and Cheese Bake from www.whatsgabycooking.com (@whatsgabycookin)

Here’s the deal – pasta (any short variety will work), my favorite tomato sauce in the world, plenty of onions and garlic to give it a good base and LOTS OF CHEESE. Pretty simple right? It comes together in under 30 minutes and make for an impressive dinner that really was no sweat off your back.

Italian Mac and Cheese Bake from www.whatsgabycooking.com (@whatsgabycookin)

Also… LOOK AT ALL THAT CHEESE! It’s enough to make even the most cheese obsessed person (speaking from experience) very very happy!

Also side note: if you want to skip the Italian sausage and make this vegetarian – go for it! And if you want to replace the sausage with either ground chicken, ground turkey or ground beef… all will work spectacularly as well!

Italian Mac and Cheese Bake

4.9 from 9 votes
An Italian spin on mac and cheese!!
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 30 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound Italian sausage (hot or sweet), casings removed
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 12 ounces pasta, cooked and drained (I used cavatappi)
  • 1 26-ounce jar Gaby’s Four Cheese Tomato Sauce
  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
  • fresh basil, for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350° In a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat, cook sausage, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until seared and no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add onion, and garlic, and cook, stirring, until soft, 5 minutes more.
  • Add pasta, tomato sauce and season with salt. Stir in half-and-half and simmer until mostly absorbed, 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in half of mozzarella.
  • Transfer mixture to a large baking dish and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake until cheese is bubbly and golden, about 10 minutes.
  • Garnish with basil and serve.

21 Comments

    1. I too would like to know this answer. I went out and looked this afternoon for this sauce to no avail.

    2. 4 stars
      I know it’s not ‘premium’, but Prego makes a four cheese tomato sauce – part of their Farmers Market line. Worked for me, we enjoyed it!

    3. Omg. Amazing. We had half mild and half hot sausage, bc it’s what we had. My husband said “make sure you don’t forget to make this .. a lot…” another win from Gaby! Thank you!

  1. 5 stars
    Made this last night, so easy and delicious!! My kids loved it! Your 4 Cheese Tomato Sauce was so good!! Perfect weeknight meal!

  2. 5 stars
    This is so simple and SO good. I wanted some comfort food for dinner and this absolutely delivered. I used Rao’s four cheese tomato sauce (no quick access to Williams Sonoma for Gaby’s) and I used mild Italian ground sausage. Think I’ll add some chopped asparagus to it for the 10 min oven time next time, because there will absolutely be a next time!

  3. 5 stars
    This is the perfect weeknight meal. It’s delicious and came together so quickly and easily! Love your Four Cheese Tomato Sauce, Gaby!

  4. 5 stars
    This recipe was very tasty! It was my first time using cavatappi pasta, and it’s a fun choice and a nice change of pace from the usual elbow macaroni. It also holds extra sauce, which is always good. Very hearty meal for a cold day in Georgia.

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