Baked Fettuccine Alfredo with Mini Italian Sausage Meatballs

My Baked Fettuccine Alfredo with Mini Italian Sausage Meatballs is a really simple dish to prepare.

This dish can be prepared in advanced, frozen or by pass the baking part all together and eat straight out the pot!

It's not a hidden secret that I love Italian food, especially pasta.

Fettuccine Alfredo is one of my favorite, quick go to meals when I want a hearty comforting dish. I make Alfredo in so many ways, I love it plain with lots of parmigiano reggiano cheese.

I often make it with asparagus and artichokes, sometimes I add caramelized onions and mushrooms and of course with shrimp and/or chicken.

 
Today, sausage is King! Big Goo went to the butcher and saw these beautiful hot Italian sausage and I decided to remove the casing and make mini meatballs.

Fried them up in a little olive oil, removed them from the pan and used the sausage grease to make my cheese sauce...with a little butter added for extra flavor!

You could eat this out the pot, it doesn't have to be baked. All you have to do is cook the sausage about 10 extra minutes, add a little extra milk to think, and cook the pasta according to package directions.

It's all good either way!

Hot out the oven, the cheese is melty good and I finished it off with a sprinkle of Italian parsley. It's time to eat!

Baked Fettuccine Alfredo with Mini Italian Sausage Meatballs
 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 lb. fettuccine pasta
1 lb. Italian sausage, casing removed
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup sharp cheese, grated
1 cup jack cheese, grated
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons creole seasoning
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoon paprika
4 stalks green onions, diced
3 tablespoons Italian parsley, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Mix seasoning blend together and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta 8 minutes, drain, rinse in warm water, drain again, coat with olive oil, 1 tablespoon of seasoning blend, mix well and set aside.

Remove sausage from casing and roll into mini meatballs about 1/2 the size of a golf ball.

Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a pan over medium heat, add the meatballs, sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of seasoning blend over meatballs, cook 4-5 minutes on each side.

Add green onions and garlic and cook 1 minute more. Remove meatballs from pan, reserve grease.

In a large stockpot, add reserved grease and butter over medium low heat, season with 1 tablespoon of seasoning blend, whisk well.

Add flour and whisk for about 3 minutes, slowly add in milk and cream and season with 1 tablespoon of seasoning blend, whisk well.

Mix cheese together, reserve 1 cup of cheese to top dish with. Whisk remaining cheese into cream sauce in  3 batches allowing to melt before adding next batch. 

After cheese is melted, taste for flavor, add more seasoning if desired. Fold in 2 tablespoons of Italian parsley and mix well.

Add meatballs and pasta to sauce, toss well. Pour into a 13X9 inch greased casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Remove from oven, sprinkle remaining Italian parsley on top. Enjoy!