Apple Sauce Mac Cheese With Apple Sausage Recipe 485

APPLE-SAUSAGE MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 2 1/2 -quart baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the sausage, mustard powder, cayenne and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the sausage is golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the apple juice and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 8 more minutes.
• Slowly stir about three-quarters each of the monterey jack and cheddar cheese into the sauce until smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the pasta and sour cream. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the crushed crackers and the remaining cheese. Bake until bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

APPLE SAUCE MAC & CHEESE WITH APPLE SAUSAGE RECIPE - (4.8/5)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the apple sausage and cook until it is just cooked all the way through, breaking it apart into smaller pieces with the end of a wooden spoon while it's cooking. Bring a pot of water to a boil and prepare the pasta according to the package's directions. When it is done, drain it well, drizzle it with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, and shake it around a bit in the strainer to keep the pieces from getting stuck to each other. While the water is boiling and the pasta is cooking, heat the milk and applesauce in a medium-sized saucepan over medium low heat until hot, but do not bring it to a boil, stirring every 3 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat and whisk in the flour right after it is completely melted. Continue heating the butter/flour mixture for two minutes, whisking all the while. Then whisk the hot milk and applesauce into the butter mixture and cook for two more minutes, still whisking. The mixture should begin to thicken at this point. Remove the dutch oven from the heat and stir in the nutmeg, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, gruyere (except the 1/2 cup), cheddar, and the apple sausage pieces until evenly distributed. Add the cooked pasta and stir until the pasta is covered in the cheese sauce. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of the grated gruyere over the mac and cheese, and sprinkle a pinch of extra pepper over the top if you'd like (gives it a nice finished look). Place the pan in the oven, uncovered, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the macaroni on top just begins to turn golden brown at the tips. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

BAKED APPLE MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• 1. Ingredients: 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni 1 1/2 medium Michigan Red Delicious apples 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 cup whole or 2% milk 1 cup half-and-half 1 1/2 cups grated mild Wisconsin cheddar cheese 1 cup grated sharp Pinconning cheese Extra virgin olive oil Lemon juice Kosher salt Fresh ground pepper Extra unsalted butter Extra unpeeled apples for garnish
• 2. Equipment: 1 8 x 8 (1/2 quart) glass casserole dish 6 or 8 quart pot Large colander Small bowl Large mixing bowl Medium saucepan
• 3. Directions: Use some of the extra butter to butter the inside bottom and sides of the glass casserole dish and set it aside.
• 4. Put about 4 quarts of water in the pot, add a tablespoon or so of the olive oil to the water, and set the heat to medium-high. Wait for the water to heat to a roiling boil. Once the water is boiling, add the uncooked macaroni to it. Cook the noodles about 7 minutes until they?re al dente. (Taste one to make sure! Stoves that run hot could mess this up.) Place the colander in a sink. Drain the macaroni in the colander, tossing it to ensure all water is out from inside all the noodles. Dump the drained noodles into a large mixing bowl and set it aside to cool a bit. (The oil you added to the water should help prevent the noodles from sticking together as they cool.)
• 5. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Peel and core the apples and cut them into wedges about 1/4 inch thick at the outside, placing the wedges into the small bowl. Sprinkle the apple wedges with some of the lemon juice. Toss the apple wedges and lemon juice by hand so the wedges are completely coated. Add the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to the apple wedges and again toss them by hand. Sniff them to ensure a good apple pie aroma. Set them aside.
• 6. Make sure the flour, milk and half-and-half are measured out, and are readily available in dishes by the stove prior to starting the next steps.
• 7. Put the 2 tablespoons of butter in the medium saucepan, set it for low heat and gently let the butter melt. As soon as the butter is melted, slowly add the flour, stirring the mixture constantly until it?s quite smooth. (Yes, you've made a roux.) Gradually stir in the milk and the half-and-half.
• 8. Continue to cook this mixture, stirring it constantly, until it boils and thickens. (This should only take about 2 minutes. Yes, you've made a simple white sauce.) Remove the sauce from the heat. Add the grated Pinconning cheese and 1 cup of the cheddar cheese. Stir this gently until all the cheese is melted and the overall sauce is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste (but not too much!).
• 9. In the large mixing bowl, gently (so the apple wedges stay intact and you don't cut any of the noodles) toss the seasoned apple wedges in with the cooked macaroni. Fold the cheese sauce into the mixture of macaroni and apples, continuing a gentle folding until all the noodles and apples are covered. Pour the completed mixture into the buttered glass dish. Top the mixture with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and dot it all by cutting about 2 tablespoons of the extra butter into little pieces and placing them on top of the mixture.
• 10. Bake the completed dish uncovered in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the top cheese is melted and is a golden brown. Pull it out of the oven and let it stand 5 minutes so the cheese will finish setting.
• 11. Serve with a garnish of fresh apple wedges to help clean up any leftover cheese sauce on the plate after eating.
• 12. Author's Notes: 1. Make sure to use a sweet type of apple this. Tart apples, such as Granny Smith's that are normally used for apple pies, won't compliment the flavors of the cheeses correctly and will certainly sour the dish. 2. We used a sharp Pinconning with a mild Wisconsin cheddar so they offset each other's "bite". If you and yours really like sharp cheeses, go ahead and use sharp for both, or even extra-sharp if that's what you enjoy. 3. We like using Barilla elbow marcaroni noodles for macaroni and cheese dishes. They have small ridges on the outside that tend to hold more of a sauce than a smooth noodle. 4. Don't use 1% or skim milk for the sauce in this dish. 2% milkfat or higher is necessary for the sauce to develop correctly. 5. If the sauce "breaks" at all during it's preparation, the only thing you can do is dump it and start that portion of the recipe over, going back to washing out the saucepan and melting another 2 tablespoons of butter. Otherwise, the completed dish won't have the desired consistancy. 6. Going somewhere with this dish? Make it up to the point where you've dotted the top of it with butter, then cover it with aluminum foil and transport it. Once you're where you're headed to, take off the foil, then throw it in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F and cook it as described.