Baked Cheesy Rigatoni with Spicy Sausage

This is like Mac & Cheese but only better. The rigatoni pasta is much bigger than macaroni, and holds more of the cheesy sauce, and the spicy sausage adds a flavour contrast to an otherwise rich dish. It's baked with flavoured breadcrumbs which makes the top crispy. Mmmmm!

BAKED CHEESY RIGATONI WITH SPICY SAUSAGE
Serves 8

1 medium onion, diced
1 head of garlic, sliced
1 bunch of parsley, stems minced and leaves chopped roughly
2 cups spicy sausage, sliced thinly
1 liter fresh milk, warmed
3 cups grated cheese (I used a combination of aged Cheddar and Pepper Jack)
2 beef bouillons
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
45 grams butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup Panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
extra butter for topping
500 grams rigatoni pasta

Procedure:

1.  Heat some oil in a deep pot.  Saute the onion, garlic and the parsley stems. Set aside.

2. In the same pot, pan fry the chopped spicy sausage. Add oil if the pot is too dry. Set aside.

3. Using the same pot, you'll find that there is some residual oil. To this, add 45 grams butter. Use a wire whisk to loosen the bits stuck at the bottom of the pan.  Add the flour and stir briskly.

4. Add the warm milk to the pot. (The milk must be warm so that the  mixture will not be lumpy. So you might want to warm the milk first in another pot, as soon as you finish frying the sausages). Add the white pepper, paprika, nutmeg and the beef bouillons. Turn the heat down low, and continue mixing with the whisk.

5.  Turn off the stove and add the cheese. Mix well with the whisk.

6. In another pot, cook your pasta by boiling a pot of water with LOTS of salt. Once you have a rolling boil, add the rigatoni. Do not fully cook the pasta, NOT even al dente. Just cook it ALMOST al dente. This ensures that the pasta is not overcooked once you add it later to the hot cheese sauce.

7.  Go back to your pot of cheese sauce. Turn on the stove; use a small flame just to warm up the sauce. Add the semi cooked pasta to your cheese sauce. Add the sausages, cooked garlic, onion and parsley stems. Mix well.

8.  Add half of the parsley and continue mixing for about a minute more, before turning off the flame.

9.  In a rectangular baking dish which has been oiled, add your cheesy pasta. Don't worry if it seems a bit watery; the noodles will eventually soak up all that cheesy sauce!

10. In a bowl, mix the Panko breadcrumbs with the other half of the chopped parsley. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Mix well.

11.  Top the dish with this bread crumb mixture and dot with butter.

12.  Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 20 minutes or until you can see the cheese bubbling, and the breadcrumbs are toasted and brown. Enjoy!