Feta and Sausage Mac and Cheese

 

This is a dish that's not very famous here in Greece. Perhaps the reason is the abundance of other Greek casserole dishes.

Moussaka, Pastitsio and Giouvetsi are the most popular ones, but there are also many other casseroles as well. In Greek baked dishes, we sometimes use béchamel (like the one used in Mac and Cheese), sometimes eggs, ham, vegetables, sausages etc. These are “pasta in the oven” dishes as we call them here (zymarika sto fourno).

So…we do love Mac and Cheese dishes; we simply don't know they’re called this way abroad :)

The classic Mac and Cheese, which is pasta with cheese (most of the times Cheddar), mixed with béchamel (and usually baked in the oven) is the absolute American comfort food as we learned over the years. And rightfully so, since it's so simple and yet so darn delicious! The dish's origin is actually English, but it became more popular in the States as it seems. A casserole filled with Mac and Cheese is a great opportunity for a wonderful family meal.

Who can resist the combination of mac and cheese? This quick and easy pasta dish combines the creamy bechamel cheese sauce with the softness of pasta, giving to the dish a delicious gooey texture; a match made in heaven!

Cheddar is the most popular cheese used in this dish, as mentioned before. There are also many other cheeses you can use however, like Gruyere, Monterey Jack etc. Here in Greece we love Graviera and Kaseri, both of which make a molten ambrosia when combined with pasta. For this recipe we chose a high quality British sharp Cheddar though, to keep it more traditional.

For this mac and cheese recipe we decided to add something Greek though (of course you probably guessed this already); we added the Greek pork sausages that are called Horiatiko Loukaniko. These are delicious traditional sausages that may include leeks, orange zest, wine and many many spices, like wholespice, thyme, oregano etc. You can find them everywhere here, but they're pretty hard to find abroad. Don't worry; you can use Italian sausages instead. They're similar to the Greek ones, so the flavor will be more less the same. We used mild-flavored sausages in our recipe, but you can also use spicy ones if you prefer.

Why did we add the sausages? The combination of sausage and cheese is simply amazing; plus, they add an interesting texture and lots of flavor to the dish. 

The other Greek ingredient was feta. A barrel-aged, traditional rustic feta, is elevating this casserole to a whole new level. If you never tried it before, add those feta cubes (like we do here) on top of everything and you won't regret it!

Finally, our secret for an amazing mac and cheese crust, is adding smoked paprika to breadcrumbs. We make our own fresh breadcrumbs from stale bread (see how in the preparation section of the recipe). Try the quantity we suggest here at first, and increase it to suit your taste. If you don't have stale bread though, you can also use panko breadcrumbs. You can always make mac and cheese on the stove top, but we prefer to bake it ourselves. It’s definitely worth the extra time; every time. You can't substitute this amazing crust. You simply can’t :)

Make sure to cook the pasta al dente, because it will continue to cook while baking. Regarding the warm milk suggested elsewhere, we don't do that. We simply take it out of the fridge before we start cooking the sausages so that it won't be very cold. And using a whisk we never had any issues (like lumps) with our sauce.

This is definitely the perfect choice for a yummy food when you want to spoil yourself and your loved ones with a treat :) So, when in need of a little comfort food, this is the absolute recipe!